Forever and Always
by SilverSharpie3
Summary: A series unexpected kisses, a mischievous drunkie, and awkward matchmaking... Contestshipping!
1. Prologue

**::MAY::**

"So Solidad strikes again," I said quietly as I dipped my feet into the water. "And to think I was so close this time around," I said with a smile. The sunset over Lake Valor was really pretty. It was so calming and pretty, I almost forgot about how badly I was crushed by Solidad earlier today.

"Congratulations May," an arrogant voice said from behind me. Just as soon as it said that, a blood red rose appeared at my feet. I picked it up and sniffed it. It was the same dainty smell that these particular roses always had.

"On what?" I asked. "I lost to Solidad in the finals."

"You beat me… and just about everyone else in the competition… except Solidad," Drew said slowly as he approached me. "Don't be so harsh on yourself," he said, turning to look me in the eye.

"I guess," I mumbled. I looked into the blazing sunset and smiled. "There's always next year to win the Grand Festival," I said in a brighter tone. I turned to Drew and in a more serious tone I asked, "Where are you going to next?"

"I think I'm going back to Hoenn to compete there again. Sinnoh's style is just a little too distracting for me with the Pokemon switches and dressing up and the seals. I want to go back to Hoenn to do a contest in its simplest form possible," Drew said, staring out into the sunset.

I looked out into the sunset. Sometimes I wished I could be a little bit more or less like Drew, as far as confidence goes. He already knew where he wanted to go next. Me on the other hand, I didn't know what I really wanted right now. I thought about staying in Sinnoh but I would be perfectly happy anywhere else.

"So where are you going next?" Drew asked.

I sighed and replied, "I honestly have no idea."

Drew gave me his extremely annoying signature smirk. "Solidad told me she was going back to Kanto and I overheard Harley saying he was going to be staying here because he loved the 'flashiness and flair' of the contests," Drew said with a shiver.

I laughed. I could totally imagine Harley saying that. He always was quite flamboyant, and out of all of us, I think he had the most fun dressing up and calling out his Pokemon with the seals and ball capsules.

"I'm thinking I might go to Kanto with Dawn to compete in contests with her over there," I said.

"So I guess this is goodbye for now," Drew said, turning to me. I looked deep into the emerald eyes of my longtime rival and smiled at him. Over the years, I had really begun to care for Drew, and I think he cared for me too. Saying goodbye was really hard.

"Yeah," I said sadly. I didn't want to say goodbye to Drew but I certainly wasn't going to follow him around like some obsessed fan-girl. I could only hope that we would meet again in the future.

Impulsively, I leaned in to hug Drew but before it was completely a hug, Drew leaned in and kissed me on the lips. His lips were soft and tasted fresh and sweet. It felt so good kissing him, on the beach, during sunset. I just didn't want to let go, but I also didn't want to get so firmly attached to him that I couldn't let him go. I was torn on whether to keep kissing him or pull back and say goodbye before my heart could break any further.

In the end, my guilt won over and I pulled back and hastily said goodbye before running off, not looking back. As I ran, I could feel tears running down my cheeks but I knew if I turned back around, I would cry even more. There was nothing I could do except run away and hope I would either see him again someday or find someone else to replace him, but the second option was impossible. There was only one Drew, and he was the one I wanted.

* * *

**A/N: I know it's kind of (scratch that. REALLY) short but the next chapters will be longer! Promise! =)**

**~Sugar and Limes **


	2. Where it all Starts

**::MAY::**

"May, would you mind doing a performance with another coordinator on the tour?" Mr. Contesta asked.

"No problem," I said. "What happened to the single performances I was supposed to do then?"

"I got the heads up someone else to do it. I think you would shine much better in the tag performances," Mr. Contesta explained.

"Who's this other person?"

"She's a very fabulous person but I need to keep it a secret or who knows what will leak onto the web," Mr. Contesta said.

"Okay," I said as I walked away towards the stage.

t was my time to be training on stage for the performance. I decided to train separately while I waited for my partner to show up. "Azumarill! Take the stage!"

Azumarill appeared in a flash of white light and tiny sparkles. "Azumarill!" she said joyfully.

"Jump and use Aqua Tail followed up with Ice Beam!"

Azumarill jumped and started spouting water from its tail in circular patterns before shooting a freezing cold beam of energy to freeze the water into an intricate, spiraling slide.

"Now use Rollout!"

Azumarill dropped onto the spiraling slide in a ball shape before rolling around the slippery slide.

"Finish with Iron Tail!"

Azumarill's tail started to glow white while it rolled and once it was fully charged up and Azumarill was at the top of the slide once again, it popped out of it's ball form, jumped, rolled a little bit in the air before landing a clean hit on the slide which shattered into a million glistening bits.

"Not bad May," a voice said. It didn't belong to Mr. Contesta or anyone I've seen recently. Actually, it sounded more or less like a voice of someone I haven't seen in four years. It belonged to a certain someone with green hair and mesmerizing emerald eyes, the certain someone I kissed on the Lake Valor lakefront four years ago and haven't seen since.

"DREW!"

"Surprised to see me?" he asked with a flick of his hair.

I stood there speechless. This dude I haven't seen since I was fourteen suddenly reappears in my life and I have to do a PERFORMANCE with him? I did not sign up for this. I never expected to see him ever again in my life to be honest. I wanted to see him but I figured the chances were so slim that I probably won't see him in person ever again. Turns out I was wrong and he's here, on stage, with me.

"I was expecting someone different," I scoffed. That was a total lie. Well, not completely. I wasn't really expecting anyone in particular, but I wasn't expecting Drew either. To put it another way, I was expecting a total stranger.

"Well you're stuck with me so let's make the best of it," Drew said. "Which Pokemon are you planning to use?" he aksed.

"I don't know yet…" I said sheepishly. "I got an idea! Why don't I show you all of my Pokemon and you show me all of yours! Then we can decide!"

Drew agreed. "You're still just as happy-go-lucky and bubbly as you were four years ago," he remarked.

"And you're still as jerky and egotistical as you were four years ago," I said.

We both called out all of our Pokemon. I looked at all of Drew's Pokemon. He still had his Roserade (no surprise there), his Flygon, and his Masquerain on his team. He also has a new Arcanine, Hitmonlee, and Ninjask.

Then I compared them to mine. I had my Azumarill, Beautifly, Glaceon, a new Espeon, Meganium, and Rapidash. Beautifly seemed to remember Masquerain and was getting along well with Masquerain.

"Looks like Beautifly and Masquerain are getting along well," I commented. They were flying around like crazy, raining sparkles on the rest of us. "I say we use them, and since we both know them pretty well, it'll make our job easier."

"Sounds good to me," Drew said, watching the two Pokemon closely.

We returned the rest of our Pokemon to their Pokeballs and started working on the performance.

"What moves does your Masquerain know?" I asked.

"Everything it knew four years ago and it learned Air Cutter and Aerial Ace. It also knows Shadow Ball but we're working on it," Drew said. "What about your Beautifly?

"It knows all of the moves it knew four years ago along with Energy Ball, Solarbeam, and Protect," I replied. "I have an idea. Drew, I want your Masquerain to use Shadow Ball just to demonstrate my idea."

Drew nodded. "Shadow Ball Masquerain!"

Masquerain tried to form the purple and black ball of energy and succeeded in creating a weak version of Shadow Ball and shot it into the sky.

"Now Beautifly! Use Silver Wind to support the Shadow Ball!"

Beautifly started flapping its wings and a stream of silvery wind was blown under the Shadow Ball pushing it higher and higher until it exploded into a shower of sparkles. With the open roof, the sparkles looked even more amazing.

"I was thinking we could do something like that but with Energy Ball because your Masquerain is still working on its Shadow Ball," I said.

"Sounds good," Drew said. "You've gotten a lot better since I last saw you," he remarked. "Your Pokemon have gotten better too. Your Beautifly looks better than ever."

"Thanks! So does your Masquerain," I said with a blush. Drew never really outright complimented me like that. It felt nice to be acknowledged by him instead of constantly getting critiqued by him.

After we put together our performance, which included several newly created combinations, we decided to go take a break and eat at a local chicken wings place.

"I see you're still as crazy about your food as ever," Drew remarked as he saw me devouring my honey BBQ wings.

"Well I'm hungry!" I said defensively. I realized how much of a Swinub I was at the moment, and with Drew being right there did not help at all. I felt kind of embarrassed. It was like having a cute boy watching you eat, only the cute boy was your longtime rival. Nonetheless, a cute boy.

Drew's gotten hot over these last four years. His hair looked shinier and softer than ever and his emerald eyes were deeper and had even more facets to them then they did four years ago. He's definitely gotten more buff and taller. If I hadn't known he was Drew, I would've thought he was a male model and not a coordinator.

"All done?" the waitress said as she came to our table after we finished.

"Yep," Drew replied.

She handed us the bill and I reached into my purse to grab my wallet but Drew stopped me.

"It's on me," he said with a charming smile.

Not only was he hotter, his manners also improved. The dude's got everything going for him now. He's hot. He's charismatic. He's famous. He's won the Grand Festival on multiple occasions. He's rich. What does he NOT have going for him? He probably has a really nice girlfriend as well.

_Why am I paying so much attention to him? Why should I care if he has a girlfriend? He's just your rival! Besides, you have a boyfriend!_

_

* * *

_

**::DREW::**

When Mr. Contesta asked if I would like to do a tag performance with someone else for the upcoming contest tour, I accepted. I didn't expect my partner to be May though. I haven't seen her in four years, since we had our first, and most likely last, kiss.

She's gotten hot. If she wasn't so intent on making our performance perfect and eating, she would've realized I was staring at her the entire time, sometimes in places I shouldn't have been staring at. I know I sound perverted but she's so HOT now! I just want to wrap my arm around that tiny waist of hers and kiss her soft, sweet lips.

She has everything going for her! She's so much more talented now; she probably could beat Solidad. She's hot, really hot. She's got a great personality and who wouldn't want her? With that being said, she probably has a boyfriend already, and I probably should keep my hands off her unless I want Lilly to blow up at me.

Now we were outside of the contest hall and May was working with her new Espeon while I sat on the sidelines watching her. She was so good with her Pokemon and she hasn't lost her touch yet.

All of a sudden, she stopped training with her Espeon and turned to me. "How many Ribbon Cups have you won so far?" she asked.

"Three," I replied.

"Hm. Funny. I've got three too," she said, pondering over this fact. "I guess that makes us even," she said as she walked over to me. She took a seat next to me with a smile.

"Espeon, return," she said, returning Espeon to its Pokeball. She turned to me and gave me a warm smile. "How's it been?" she asked. A simple question that involved a long explanation.

"Pretty good," I replied. "Like I said, I won three Ribbon Cups but they were really easy to win ever since we all split up." That pretty much summed up my victories. Without Solidad or May or even Harley to be there, it was kind of bland. I still loved coordinating but it would've been even better if May was there with me.

"Did you catch any new Pokemon?" she asked.

"A couple. Arcanine, Hitmonlee, Ninjask, and a couple more," I replied. I wanted to ask her a question but it just didn't seem like a good time right now.

I looked over at her. She was gazing into the sunset. The contest hall was on a hill overlooking the city so the sunset looked absolutely gorgeous. The mellow orange, yellow and purple tones looked great reflecting off May's sapphire-blue eyes. I couldn't help but wish she was mine.

"I remember about six years ago here in Kanto, we were trying to catch that Arcanine. That was fun," she said dreamily.

"Yeah." I took a small pause before I went on to ask May how it's been for her.

"It's been pretty good actually," she replied, still gazing into the sunset. "Three Ribbon Cups. I've either been traveling with Ash and Brock, Dawn, or this other guy I met while traveling with Ash and Brock. I've caught a couple more Pokemon while I've been traveling but nothing major."

I don't know why but I immediately felt a surge of jealousy rush over me. It was funny, I felt like I had claimed May to be mine even though she was just my rival.

"Who's this other guy?" I asked.

May sighed dreamily and replied, "Brendan." It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she was crushing on him. She blushed at the very thought of him and her sapphire blue eyes sparkled with love.

I wanted to kill this Brendan guy. That sparkle in her eyes should be for me! She should be sighing my name! Not his! She was mine!

_What am I thinking? She's just your rival! Bad Drew! You have a girlfriend already! She has a boyfriend already! Deal with it!_

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow during practice," she said as she got up. "We can catch up more on what happened in those four years. Bye!"

I watched her walk away into the city, the sunset bringing out the highlights in her brown hair. She had to be at least a thousand times prettier than she was four years ago.

_No. I am not in love with May. She's just your rival. She has a boyfriend. You are not in love with May. You love Brianna, not May. Get over her Drew._

_

* * *

_

**::MAY::**

I admit Drew was really hot now. Like really, really hot but I had Brendan and I am in love with him… I think. I don't know why but I felt more connected with Drew than I do with Brendan, despite being separated from him for four, long, lonely years. A weird part of me wanted to snuggle up with Drew and watch the sunset with him but the practical part of me held me back.

When I arrived back at the hotel (the committee managed to score the entire tour reservations at luxury hotels at all of our stops) I immediately went up to my room and flopped down on the plush, king-sized bed and let my stress melt into the bed.

After taking a nice, long, hot shower, I pulled on a decent outfit and walked over to Dawn's room.

"Hey, can I come in?" I asked as I knocked on the door.

"Sure!" Dawn said happily as she opened the door. As I took off my shoes, I saw her dash over to the video phone in her room. "I'll talk to you later Kenny!"

"Bye Dee-Dee!" Kenny said teasingly.

"STOP CALLING ME DEE-DEE!" Dawn said before the screen went blank.

"Are you and Kenny —"

"What? No! Kenny and I are NOT dating!" Dawn said defensively. "We were just having a chat about the tour. Kenny was going to be in it but he was too busy."

"Oh. Well then, how's everything going for your tag performance with Zoey?"

"It's going great! I heard you were moved to a tag performance as well. I also heard the person taking your spot is this amazing coordinator with three Ribbon Cups and she's only fourteen! So who's your partner?"

I laughed. "Remember Drew from four years ago?" I asked.

"The one with a Roserade?"

"Yep! That's the one. He's my partner."

"You're partnered up with your longtime rival from four years ago?" Dawn asked incredulously.

"Yep," I said. "And he got hot too."

"But you have Brendan!"

I sighed. It was time for the complicated stuff. "It's complicated. I have Brendan, and don't get me wrong, he's an amazing guy but there's something that just clicks between Drew and me."

Dawn came over and gave me a hug. "You'll figure this out," she said reassuringly.

"I hope so," I said quietly. I got up and put my shoes back on. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I closed the door.

Back in my room, I immediately dashed for my old fanny pack. I didn't wear it anymore but I kept it around for sentimental value. I also kept my old diaries inside along with old ribbons. I opened it up and pulled out an old diary. It was my second diary.

Ever since I first went to Johto, I've been keeping a diary, one for each region I traveled to. This one happened to have a leather cover with a gold, detailed map of Sinnoh embossed into it. The first page was blank except for a carefully written word written across the page in stylish calligraphy. It said "Sinnoh" and that's all it needed to say. The rest of the pages of the diary were filled with my writing.

I flipped to the very last entry in the diary and read it.

_Dear Diary,_

_It's the last day of my Sinnoh adventure. Tomorrow I'm on my back home. Solidad won the Sinnoh Grand Festival but I placed a close second. I loved battling against Solidad! Guess I still have a lot to learn. Next time I battle Solidad, I'm going to win._

And I did win against Solidad the next time I saw her in the Hoenn Grand Festival two years later in the semifinals. I lost that year to Dawn but I felt so accomplished to beat Solidad.

_I also beat Drew in the semi-finals. It made me feel so proud to have finally beaten him. I know I beat him in the Kanto Grand Festival but to do it twice proves it wasn't just luck. And it felt good. It was me, my Glaceon, and my new Chikorita against him, his Absol, and his Roserade. Absol and Roserade had some killer combinations but in the end, time ran out and I beat Drew for the second time and it felt SO GOOD._

_Then in the finals, I put up a good fight according to Solidad but she eventually beat me. She congratulated me and the Grand Festival was over._

_I didn't plan on sticking around for the after party because I was going to attend the Grand Festival in Johto where Dawn was competing. I did stick around long enough to watch the sunset before my ferry came. That's when everything went all weird._

_Drew decided to come and congratulate me on my performance. He gave me a rose like he always does and we chatted a little bit about what we were going to do next. Then, I don't know what I was thinking, what happened, but I leaned in and kissed Drew. It felt SO GOOD. We just instantly connected. It was deep and passionate with tongue and the whole deal. He I never wanted to let go but something inside me knew I wasn't going to see Drew again for a long time, maybe never again, and if I just kept kissing him, I'd miss him more than I already do. In the end, that little part of me won over and I had to break away. I'm holding back tears as I write this. There's only one Drew and I probably won't ever see him again._

_Heartbroken,_

_May_

As soon as I finished reading those last words, the memory of that painful day came flooding back to me. Impulsively, I traced my lips with my fingertip as if it could reawaken the remnants of the kiss. I felt a single tear roll down my cheek and soon, a waterfall of tears was rolling down my cheeks, just like how they were four years ago.

_He's probably forgotten about the kiss, _I thought. _With all those fan-girls, who has time to remember some lonely rival's goodbye kiss? _

As I rolled into bed that night, all I could think about was that kiss on the lakefront and how badly I wanted Drew.


	3. Enter Chloe

**::MAY::**

When I woke up the next morning, I could feel the dried up tears caked onto my face. My hair was an absolute mess and my breath smelled like morning. To make matters worse, practice for the tour was going to begin in about an hour and a half.

I stumbled into the shower and quickly washed myself down using a random set of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. When I got out, I had about an hour and fifteen minutes left to get all ready, wake myself up, and eat breakfast.

I went straight to the closet and pulled out a pretty outfit. It was an off the shoulder cream colored top with a white tank top underneath. I also wore a short, dark blue skirt, not too short, just above the knee with a pair of white flip-flops.

As I blow-dried my hair, I realized I smelled like a field of flowers mixed with strawberries. I grabbed the set I used and read it carefully. "Roserade Aroma," I mumbled. "The sweet scent of Roserade infused with a hint of Meganium petals and strawberries," I mumbled as I read the rest of the description.

_I'm going to smell like Roserade all day. Might as well complete the touch, _I thought as I finished off my hair with an ivory rose from the hotel room. My hair looked pretty like this. I started growing it out ever since Kanto three years ago so it fell a little bit below my shoulders in light waves. Instead of a bandanna today, I wore a braid across the top of my head like a headband and ended it with a rose.

I walked over to the bathroom and put on some light makeup. I normally didn't wear any makeup but I wanted to look pretty for Drew.

_What am I saying? Not Drew! Brendan! Yeah! Brendan! I'm going to video call Brendan today!_

When I finished with that, I checked the clock and realized I still had a good thirty minutes to get breakfast and go. I brushed my teeth quickly before heading out the door.

For breakfast, I decided to go to my favorite café in Cerulean City. I found it the first time around when I was traveling with Ash and Brock and I just absolutely fell in love with the place. It was small yet strangely open feeling. They also had the best smoothies. And it was just a short walk away from the hotel and contest hall.

"I'll have an Açai Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie with green tea please," I said to Maggie, the café owner.

"Sure thing May," Maggie said. Even though I didn't live in Cerulean City and I definitely wasn't a regular customer, Maggie and I knew each other pretty well. Every time I happened to be close to Cerulean City, I'd always stop by and order a ton of smoothies.

"Here you go May," Maggie said.

I gave her the money and a sizeable and said, "Thanks," before dashing out the door to the contest hall.

"Excuse me," I said as I pushed my way through a crowd of people.

"Looks like someone's being pushy," a familiar, arrogant voice said tauntingly.

"Shut up Drew," I said through sips of smoothie.

"What are you drinking? Mud mixed with Geodude?" Drew asked when he saw my unusually colored smoothie. I'll admit it does look kind of disgusting. It was an icky gray-blue color but it tasted phenomenal.

"A really good smoothie," I replied before walking off.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't seem to shake him off, and strangely, I was actually sort of okay with that. "We still have plenty of time to get to the contest hall," Drew said.

"I don't know about you and your arriving 'fashionably late' but I'm arriving on time," I said before strutting off. However, like night follows day, Drew continued to keep up with me.

Suddenly, we heard a high-pitched squeal coming from behind us. We both turned around and saw a mob of Drew's fan girls following us, or should I say, him.

"Sh*t. I thought I lost them a couple of blocks ago," Drew mumbled under his breath.

"Drew I love you!" "What are you doing with that sl*t?" "Marry me Drew!" "Hey b*tch! Get away from him! He's mine!" "No he's mine!" "Drew!"

"You really need to lay off the charm," I said to him. "And it's not nice to swear Drew."

"Do you think that's what I'm worried about at the moment?" Drew asked.

The fan girls were closing in on us fast and there was no time to call out one of our Pokemon. So we did all we could do. We ran.

They pretty much chased us past the contest hall and straight into the heart of Cerulean City. We ended up running in circles around Cerulean City because after we passed the LeMocha Café for about the third time, I grabbed Drew's arm and pulled him into the safety of the café.

"Hey Maggie," I said breathlessly.

"Are you okay May?" Maggie asked worriedly.

"His," I said, jerking a thumb in Drew's direction, "idiotic fan girls decided to start chasing us around the city and we are SO LATE for the tour practice so I was wondering if we could borrow some stuff to get to the contest hall in one piece?"

"Sure!" Maggie said. "Come into the back room. We have some stuff here. Just return the stuff ASAP."

"Thanks Mags!" I said happily. The redhead walked back to the counter and we pulled on some hats and sunglasses for a adequate disguise and used Maggie's husband's motorcycle.

"I'll drive," I said as I grabbed the helmet. Before I could put it on, Drew grabbed it out of my hands and put it on.

"I'm driving," Drew said firmly. "I've drove motorcycles before and it'll also help with my disguise"

"Fine," I said with a pout.

We both hopped on the motorcycle and sped away to the contest hall. Maybe Drew was being smart when he refused to let me drive. Just being on the motorcycle terrified me so I pretty much clung to Drew like lint to a sock.

"May," Drew said, shaking my shoulder, "could I have my body back?"

I opened my eyes and realized we stopped and immediately relinquished my iron hold on Drew. I don't want to admit it but it felt good squished up against Drew. He's got nice abs too. I can just tell.

_Oh my God. What am I thinking? Stop thinking about Drew like that! You have Brendan for crying out loud! You have the most perfect guy on earth who will do anything for you! Just because Drew is an absolute dreamboat with charm, money, and talent doesn't mean he's better than your Brendan! Snap out of it May!_

"Come on," I said, getting of the motorcycle. "We are SO LATE."

Drew didn't bother to contradict me as we both scurried inside the contest hall.

* * *

**::DREW::**

I should ride motorcycles more often. Not only does it scare those annoying fan girls away, it also gets May to get closer to me. During the entire ride, she was completely terrified, thus causing her to hug me from the back like I meant the world to her. I probably shouldn't ride them with Brianna though. She'd hug me until I couldn't breathe. Brianna was really nice to me and adored me but sometimes she could go a little overboard.

When we got inside the contest hall, rehearsals have already started and Mr. Contesta was looking for us.

"Sorry we're late," May said as we approached Mr. Contesta. "All of HIS fan girls started chasing us," she said, jerking a thumb in my direction.

"That's fine," Mr. Contesta said. "But you're up next so I suggest you get ready. We're doing a run through today then dress rehearsal tomorrow."

"Next up we have a tag performance from previous Ribbon Cup winners May and Drew! Both have won three Ribbon Cups each and have been in seven Grand Festivals. Both are heading for their respective Grand Festivals after this tour so give it up for May of Petaburg City and Drew of LaRousse City!"

We both stepped onto the stage and called out our Pokemon.

"Beautifly! Take the stage!"

"You too Masquerain!"

The two Pokemon appeared in a white flash followed up with sparkles. They started to twirl around in mid-air before stopping and posing.

"Now Beautifly! Use Energy Ball!"

"Masquerain! Use Silver Wind!"

Beautifly launched a blue-green ball of swirling energy up into the sky while Masquerain flapped its wings and propelled the ball up with streams of silvery gusts of pulsing wind. When the ball finally had enough pushing from the Silver Wind, it exploded and the Silver Wind also stopped, showering the stadium in sparkles. The sunlight reflected off the multi-faceted sparkles like water droplets and made it seem like someone had just used a huge Sunny Day attack all over the Contest Hall.

"Now Beautifly! SolarBeam!"

Beautifly started to charge up its SolarBeam and it didn't take long in the gorgeous sunny weather. In a matter of seconds, Beautifly had produced a glowing white ball of solar energy.

"Spin and let her rip!" May said

"Use Bubble Masquerain!" Drew said.

Beautifly released the ball of energy in the form of a beam while spinning, making it spiral in the sky. Masquerain then started shooting clear bubbles into the sky as well, surrounding the spiral of solar energy. Pretty rainbows danced all across the contest hall along, mixing and mingling with the sparkles that were created earlier.

"Now Masquerain! Hidden Power!" I called out.

Masquerain started to form rings of the familiar glowing white balls of energy before shooting them out.

"Psychic Beautifly!" May called out.

Beautifly's eyes glowed light blue for a moment. Then Masquerain's Hidden Power attack became completely surrounded by a light blue glow, similar to the glow of Beautifly's eyes. Now Beautifly was making the little pieces of the Hidden Power attack spin in rings around them.

"Aerial Ace!" we both called out.

Beautifly stopped using Psychic and the white balls of energy, no longer surrounded by blue, started dropping to the ground. They didn't drop for long though. Beautifly and Masquerain soon charged up their Aerial Aces and started zooming around the Contest Hall, making loops and spirals with their fancy flying. While they were flying, their speed caused the balls of energy to spin and twirl around the stage as they fell so it looked like they were shooting stars. Beautifly and Masquerain finished with a twirl and a pose while underneath them, we made a similar pose.

"Nice job," May said to me with a smile.

"You too," I said back.

All of a sudden, May started to fall backwards. I naturally had pretty quick reflexes so I grabbed her and pulled her up. At one point, our faces were merely inches away from each other, close enough to kiss. Personally, I wouldn't mind getting another kiss from May but if this ever got out on the news, my Lily would kill me. Besides, I think she already has a boyfriend and Arceus knows if she still likes me or not.

_Why her? Why did I have to get paired up with her? Why'd she have to come back into my life and mess everything up? I have a perfect relationship with Brianna and I'm stinking rich to top that off! No. Quit blaming everything on May. It's your fault you signed up for this stupid thing anyways. _

"Thanks Drew," May said as she straightened herself up.

"No problem," I said with an involuntary flick of my hair.

_Stop it! Stop flicking your damn hair!_

I could see May smiling at me. She didn't look like she wanted hook up with me. The look on her face pretty much said "you're still doing that stupid hair flick-y thing? Wow Drew. You sure have changed a lot."

I smiled back at her. As long as we remained friends, everything was going to be okay. Right?

* * *

**::MAY::**

_I almost kissed Drew. Stupid klutzy me! You have Brendan! Remember? Your boyfriend? _

_But on the other hand, he is kind of hot. Who wouldn't fall in love with those eyes? They're so deep and prismatic. I swear, you can see green-tinted rainbows in his eyes. His eyelashes are just so long! Whoever said eyes are the windows to the soul were probably looking at Drew. Do eyes get sexier than his? _

_HELLO? YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!_

I wonder how in the world I manage to have such intense arguments in my head.

We both headed backstage in slightly awkward silence as the MC called out the next performer. This was going to be my performance slot but then Mr. Contesta moved me over to perform with Drew.

"After being the youngest Coordinator ever to win the Ribbon Cup at the age of eleven, she has continued to travel around the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions and has secured numerous Grand Festival wins. Now at the age of twenty-two, she has secured a total of six Ribbon Cups and a place among the most elite coordinators of our time! Give it up for Chloe Sparks!"

"He can't be serious. THE Chloe Sparks?" Drew said, astounded.

"How in the world did they manage to get Chloe Sparks to sign up for this tour?" I asked in an equally astounded tone. Not only was Chloe Sparks one of the best coordinators ever, she was also a pretty decent PokeStylist. Unfortunately, Chloe was also a tabloid queen. Talented, but also a party-hard type of girl that ended up all over the tabloids… for all the wrong reasons. Getting Chloe on the tour would either bring major hits for her coordinating talents or major criticism for her party animal personality.

We both watched in awe as parts of the stage slid open, revealing a pool. Being Cerulean City, a water loving city, the contest hall HAD to have a pool. We chose not to use it because we didn't really need it.

Chloe looked up into the sky and took a deep breath before pulling out two Pokeballs. Then Chloe started spinning, with the two Pokeballs in her hands. As she spun, she started to raise them up. Once they were firmly above her head, she released the Pokemon from their Pokeballs.

"Vaporeon! Leafeon! Hit the stage!"

Vaporeon and Leafeon appeared from their spinning Pokeballs in a flash of white light and tiny sparkles. They were spinning just as their trainer has been.

"Leafeon! Use Aerial Ace! Vaporeon! Use Aqua Tail!"

Leafeon stopped spinning and started getting ready for an Aerial Ace while Vaporeon continued to spin while using Aqua Tail. Vaporeon's Aqua Tail started to spin webs of water, which were further spun by Leafeon's speedy Aerial Ace. The Aqua Tail also started forming a cocoon of water around Vaporeon.

As Vaporeon continued to fall, the webs of water dropped into tiny droplets and new ones took their place. The cocoon that was forming around Vaporeon started to get larger and tighter as Vaporeon made its descent.

Once Vaporeon was a couple of inches away from the ground, Chloe ordered another attack from Leafeon. "Use Magical Leaf Leafeon!"

Leafeon stopped using Aerial Ace and started spinning while using Magical Leaf. The glowing leaves created a spiraling vortex above the water. As Leafeon spun faster, the vortex started to suck in the water into twisting columns of green-glowing water.

"Now Vaporeon! Tuck in your tail! Leafeon use SolarBeam followed up with Energy Ball and keep it going!"

Leafeon was shooting Energy Balls and SolarBeam balls into the water around the web, creating geysers of water that splashed around it. And in the middle of it all, Vaporeon was still going.

Vaporeon had tucked in its mermaid-like tail and started finishing up the cocoon by spinning faster and faster, all while it was standing on water. The fast twirling motion created small waves of water around Vaporeon's feet, almost like a mini-whirlpool. Soon, all of Vaporeon was covered in a watery cocoon while the web was nearly gone now from the lack of new water.

"Now use Secret Power Vaporeon!"

Vaporeon glowed pink, illuminating the cocoon and the now crumbling web.

"So that's what Chloe was planning all along," Drew murmured.

Only someone like Chloe could've done something like that. But knowing the troubled coordinator, she'd probably go and get drunk after rehearsal.

Then Chloe said something softly to her Vaporeon but no one could really hear what she said. Then she smirked and said to her Leafeon, "SolarBeam."

In the bright sunlight, SolarBeam only took a mere handful of seconds to charge up before Leafeon direted the powerful attack at the cocoon where Vaporeon was wrapped up in. Vaporeon must've stopped its Secret Power Attack because the cocoon was no longer glowing but where else could Vaporeon have gone when it was all wrapped up in a cocoon of water without the cocoon collapsing?

I nearly fell over. What was she thinking? Was she trying to kill her Vaporeon? Why was she firing a SolarBeam at Vaporeon?

"Fire!" Chloe said.

Leafeon pulled her head back for extra appeal before unleashing an incredibly powerful SolarBeam. The beam of solar energy made contact with the cocoon and the cocoon exploded into a shower of water, thus destroying the web as well but Vaporeon was no where to be seen.

The entire contest hall hung in silence as Leafeon hung above the entire watery mess with Vaporeon nowhere to be seen. Mr. Contesta was about to go outside and brutally yell at Chloe but Chloe stopped him with one hand before looking up at the stage.

"Leafeon! Use Leaf Blade!"

The leaf on Leafeon's head glowed green before Leafeon dived down and made a searing cut in the water with its razor sharp leaf. Two ramps of water rose out of the water with a small gap in between.

Chloe smiled. "Now Vaporeon! Quick Attack!"

Vaporeon appeared out of nowhere behind Leafeon. She jumped over her sister before dashing onto one of the ramps with blistering fast speed while her sister treaded water. After Vaporeon ran over one ramp with its unique ability to walk on water, it jumped over to the next one and rolled down it.

"Surf!"

Vaporeon picked up its sister from the water and summoned a large wave of water and rode it towards Chloe.

"Now jump!"

Both Leafeon and Vaporeon fearlessly jumped off the wave. Leafeon jumped, spun, and went horizontal before going vertical again. She landed safely on the platform where Chloe was standing.

Meanwhile, Vaporeon jumped perfectly vertical while spinning and landed on top of the water.

Both Pokemon then struck a pose along with their trainer. The pose was carefully calculated so the sun hit Vaporeon and Leafeon at specific angles. Vaporeon looked like it was shimmering, like a clear blue lake on a sunny day. Leafeon on the other hand looked totally energized from the energy it took it from photosynthesis.

They held the pose for a little longer before bowing and going in.

While the announcer called out the next coordinator, a completely drenched Chloe came in with her equally drenched Pokemon. Immediately, adoring fans started flocking towards her but the troubled star brushed them off. She walked towards her assistant and took a water bottle from her.

"What's this?" she asked angrily after taking a swig. "I asked for hard lemonade! Not WATER!"

"Well," her assistant said sheepishly, "you said you had a killer hangover so I filled it up with water instead of hard lemonade."

"Can anybody do anything right around here?" Chloe asked angrily. She stormed out of the building with her Pokemon.

"I smell something bad brewing," Drew said.

"Should we follow her?" I asked.

We looked at each other and said nothing more. We followed Chloe out of the building where she was on her PokeNav, trying to find the nearest bar. Her Pokemon looked at her, begging for her to stop. The must've known what she was doing and were trying to stop the troubled star.

"Where the hell is the nearest f***ing bar?" she asked to nobody in particular. Then she noticed us and glared. "Oh great, more fans. What do you want? My autograph? Here you go," she said, throwing us autographed pictures of her.

"No," I said. After traveling with Ash back when I was ten, I tended to be a little bit rash. Not as rash as he is but I did have a tendency to rush into things without fully thinking it out, only sometimes though. "We wanted to talk."

"So you're reporters? So where's your f***ing cameraman?"

"No. We're not reporters. We're coordinators from this tour. We went right before you," I explained cautiously. It was clearly evident that talking to Chloe was like walking on eggshells.

"So what do you f***ing want?"

"We want to talk to you… about your problem… Coordinator to coordinator," I said.

"What are you? My f***ing therapist?" she said angrily.

"No, but we care about this tour and you signed up for this under the conditions you would do your best not to bring bad publicity to this tour," Mr. Contesta said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Do I care?" Chloe said snootily. "My publicist made me sign up because I've been getting so called 'bad publicity' lately."

"Behave yourself Chloe or else you might find yourself in big trouble with us," Mr. Contesta said warningly to Chloe.

As soon as Mr. Contesta was out of earshot, Chloe said, "I don't give a f*** about this f***ing tour."

"You should," Drew said.

"Why should I listen to cabbage-dude and Roserade here?" Chloe said.

"Roserade?" I asked. Drew's Roserade was nowhere to be seen and I did not dress up like a Roserade.

"I mean you, b****" Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

That's when I remembered I completely reeked of Roserade since this morning's shower. It didn't help that I had a rose in my hair too.

I blushed and I swear Chloe's expression softened up.

"You two make a cute couple. An annoying, nosy couple but nonetheless, a cute couple."

"We're not dating!" I said defensively. I could feel the color rising to my cheeks even more.

Chloe smirked. "Don't try and pull anything over me," the twenty-two year old said. "You two obviously have chemistry. It's so obvious." She looked up at us, her hangover appearing to be completely gone. "Call out your Beautifly and Masquerain if you will."

_Why does she want our Pokemon? She's not affiliated with Team Rocket is she?_

Despite my doubts, I called out Beautifly anyways and Drew, following my lead, called out his Masquerain. Then Chloe, with a smirk on her face, pulled out a small container of liquid PokeBlock mix. It was a tiny container, only big enough for one. Both Beautifly and Masquerain flocked over to it but after Masquerain saw Beautifly flying over, he let her take the treat. After finishing the treat, Beautifly flew up to Masquerain with a happy expression on its face and cuddled up with him. There was a deep blush on Masquerain's face as Beautifly snuggled up next to him.

"Looks like Beautifly and Masquerain like each other. My uncle told me that one of his colleagues said that Pokemon take after their trainers," Chloe said, looking full of life.

"WHAT?" we both said at the same time. I did not like LIKE Drew like that and I'm pretty sure he didn't either… I think.

"You both know you like each other so why not just say it?" Chloe said with a full flip of her long, blond hair.

We stared at each other in awkward silence.

"SAY IT ALREADY!"

"I-I l-l-ove…"

* * *

**::DREW::**

I should've saw it coming. I mean, she's so hot! How could she not have a boyfriend?

"I love my girlfriend," I said. Even though I said it, it doesn't mean I mean it. Brianna's nice and all and she gives me all these pet names and stuff but she's so CLINGY!

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Chloe looking at us with an unsatisfied frown.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

It's so obvious they like each other.

I may have gone through more break ups than the average person but I know when I see a spark it's for real. I am like an expert on dating. I know the "I love my boyfriend/girlfriend" phrase they just said is not true. They love EACH OTHER. Now it's just my job to make them realize it.

* * *

**A/N: Explanation about Brianna/Lily (will be explained) in the next chapter which will be up shortly. This is probably the most swearing I'll do in one chapter. For those who are wondering, Chloe is my OC. **

**Like I said on my profile, school's coming up soon so updates will be sparse and extremely spastic. I will keep updating but I won't be updating as often. Sorry. =(**

**On a brighter note, chapter Four will be up shortly and thanks SO MUCH to those who've reviewed so far. Reviews would be appreciated! Thanks!**

**~Sugar and Limes**


	4. Soaked

**::MAY::**

After the rehearsal today, which Mr. Contesta insisted on running again to smooth out any bumps, it was already about seven at night. Chloe insisted on taking us to the hot, new sushi place downtown. Before we went though, we stopped by the hotel and got ready. We also invited Misty, Ash, Dawn, and Paul.

I was in my hotel room getting ready when a very energetic Dawn came barreling into my room with Misty and Leaf.

"I can't believe you met THE Chloe Sparks! And we're going to go meet her!" Dawn said, squealing.

"Mhm," I said as I fixed up my hair. I decided I wanted to make it fall in loose, curling waves.

"So why'd you drag us here?" Misty asked.

"I don't know!" Dawn said happily. She was so giddy at the fact that she was going to meet Chloe Sparks.

I finished up my hair. I decided I wasn't going to bother with makeup today. It was just too much of a hassle. "What do you think?" I asked as I turned around for them to see my outfit.

"It looks gorgeous!" Misty said.

Dawn squealed. "Oh my God! You are going to make Drew's heart pound!"

"Who said anything about Drew?" I asked.

Dawn grinned sheepishly. "Well," she started, twiddling her fingers, "you two like each other don't you?"

"I do not like Drew!" I said defensively. "And what about you and Paul?"

"Please," Dawn said. "Why would I like that cold-hearted hunk? Imeanjunk! Cold-hearted piece of trainer junk!"

We all shook our heads. It was common knowledge that Dawn was head over heels in love with Paul, and Paul sort of liked her too.

"Quit arguing," Misty said. "We only have a couple more minutes before Chloe gets her private limo here."

* * *

**::DREW::**

I was in my hotel room with my girlfriend Brianna. Like always, she insisted on helping me undress and redress. And like always, I had to push her into the bathroom and lock barricade the door to get a moment of peace while dressing.

"Drew-y? Can I come out now?" Brianna asked.

I was just finishing up my hair when I remembered Brianna was still in the bathroom.

"Sure Lily," I said.

Lily was my little pet name for her. After we've been dating for a while, Brianna got annoyed with the fact I didn't have a pet name for her so I came up with one on the spot. We just happened to be strolling through the park by a pond with lily pads on it so I said, "Your pet name is Lily Pad." That seemed to satisfy her. Now I just call her Lily for short.

I opened the door for Brianna and she immediately hugged me, wrinkling my perfectly pressed outfit. Normally I wouldn't be too concerned with if my appearance because I just naturally get fans but today I felt like I had to look nice in the presence of Chloe Sparks and of course, May.

"Can I come with you Drew-y?" Brianna asked as she clung onto my arm.

I rolled my eyes. "Chloe's kind of touchy and she said she didn't want any extra people tagging along," I lied. Chloe said we could invite whoever we want because she reserved the entire place just for us just as long as whoever we bring wasn't going to spoil her dinner by constantly bugging her.

"Oh," Brianna said with a downcast look. Then she looked at me suspiciously. "Who's Chloe?" she asked with a suspicious look.

I rolled my eyes. Brianna's so overprotective of me. "Chloe Sparks," I said as I unwrinkled my shirt.

"THE Chloe Sparks?" Brianna asked in disbelief. "EEEEEEEE! I HAVE to go see her!" Before Drew could hold her back, she rushed off and picked out a little black dress and picked out a matching tuxedo for me.

"You are going to wear this," she said, holding up a tuxedo.

Originally, he was planning on wearing a more casual outfit but Brianna was pretty much shoving the tuxedo into my face so what else could I do but wear it?

"Oh my GOD! My friends are going to be so JEALOUS when they find out I'm going to have sushi with my amazing boyfriend and THE Chloe Sparks!" Brianna said with a squeal before rushing off to call her friends in the separate, built in booth for making video calls.

I sighed and started putting on the tuxedo.

* * *

**::MAY::**

"So what's Paul doing here in Cerulean City?" I asked.

"He's trying to get a water-type Pokemon," Dawn explained. Earlier today she was trying to get a new water type and she just happened to bump into Paul. "He's going to try and challenge Wallace, the Hoenn League Champion."

"That's pretty cool. Ash told me he was training to try and challenge the Sinnoh Elite Four," Misty said.

"After this tour, I'm going to be competing in the Kanto Grand Festival again," I said as I fixed up my hair again. "And so is Drew."

"I can't believe you two are performing together!" Misty said.

"I sort of wish I got a total stranger for my partner but at the same time I'm glad I got Drew," I said, gazing out the window. "It feels good to be back with him you know? He's my one and only real rival. Sure Solidad and Harley are my rivals too but Drew's the only one I can really connect with. We're almost friends now!"

_What am I saying? Drew is my rival! R. I. V. A. L. Got it May? Good girl._

Leaf giggled. "You look so cute when you talk about Drew!"

"WHAT? He'sjustmyrival! That'sall!" I said defensively. Why does everyone think we're dating? After an awkward pause, I said nervously, "I'm going to make a call to Brendan. Be right back."

I darkened the glass for the built in calling booth and called the Snowpoint City Pokemon Center. Brendan was currently traveling around Sinnoh, attempting to win the Sinnoh League. If he won, he was going to try and challenge the Elite Four, and then finally Cynthia.

"Hey babe," he said with a smile when he picked up.

"Brendy," I said with a grin.

"I told you not to call me that," he said with a playful grin. "It makes me sound like a girl."

"Whatever… Brendy," I said with a giggle.

He rolled his eyes. "What's up?"

"You know the tour I'm in?"

"Yeah," he said.

"And you know that old rival of mine Drew?"

"What about him?" Then as if he knew what I was going to say, his eyes darkened and he gasped. "You're not breaking up with me are you?"

I laughed. "Why would I break up with you?" I asked. Then I mentally winced. As much as I wanted those words to mean something, they didn't mean as much as they should've. I hate to say it but it's true that our spark is dying off. Then I recomposed myself. "We're performing together on the tour after four years of not seeing my _rival,"_ I said, putting emphasis on the word "rival."

That got Brendan to relax a bit. "That's awesome babe. I just got my fourth badge by beating Candice. Man does she have one mean Abomasnow!"

I smiled. "I got to go soon Brendan. I'll call you later tonight."

"Bye babe."

I ended the call and stepped out of the booth to find Chloe waiting there along with Misty, Dawn, and Leaf.

"Took you long enough. Let's go," she said as she turned on her heel and walked out into the hall.

"Okay. Ash and Paul are all in the limo already. You can go on ahead if you want. I'm going to go get Drew. May, you're coming with me because you know Drew best," Chloe said as she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down to Drew's room.

When we got there, she rang the doorbell and pushed me right up to the door. Drew opened it and to our surprise, he was wearing a tux. Behind him was Brianna, the rookie coordinator I met seven years ago vying for Drew's attention. She was wearing a little black dress with spaghetti straps and adorned with sequins at the neck and hemline.

"Ummm," Chloe said. "Even though we have the entire restaurant to ourselves, you're going to feel really awkward wearing that. Everyone else is wearing jeans and stuff like that."

Drew looked back and glared at Brianna who simply smiled and blushed.

"I'm going to stay like this," Brianna said. "And you are too," she said as she grabbed Drew's arm. "Let's go!"

The whole time we were walking down the stairs Brianna clung to Drew like lint to a sock. We were just about to enter the limo when Chloe realized Brianna was tagging along. Apparently, all those years of dealing with annoying fans gave her a good fan-sensing radar.

"She's not coming with us is she?" she asked before we were going to leave the hotel.

"Why not?" Brianna asked defensively as she clung onto Drew even tighter.

"Ow. My arm," Drew said as he tried to shake her off.

"Because," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, "I can tell you're one of those annoying fans who'll just _ruin _my dinner by pestering me with annoying "did-you-know" facts and asking a bunch of annoying questions."

"Why would I go gaga over you?" Brianna asked.

Chloe removed her oversized sunglasses and pulled off her hoodie, revealing her piercing blue eyes and curling blond hair. All topped off with a jet blue streaked lock down the right side of her hair. It was a look that was unmistakably Chloe Sparks.

"OMG! YOU'RE CHLOE SPARKS! EEEEEEEEE! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTO —"

Brianna was cut off by Chloe who was holding her perfectly manicured hand in her face. "This is what I mean," she said, inspecting her nails. Then with a firm push, she pushed Brianna aside and dragged me and Drew out of the hotel. "Toodles darling," she said to Brianna.

"You made it!" Ash said happily. "Now let's go eat!"

"Same old Ash," Dawn said with a smile. It didn't take an Alakazam to realize Dawn was sitting extremely close to Paul. And surprisingly, Paul looked like he was okay with it.

"So," Chloe said, taking a dainty sip of her glass before spewing it out. "What the hell is this? I asked for f***ing chardonnay! Not f***ing water!" She slammed her glass down and then turned to us. "Sorry about that. I know I have anger management issues. Tell me a little bit about yourselves," Chloe said with a smile.

"Well," Dawn said. "I'm a coordinator. I've been to the Grand Festival five times and I've earned the five ribbons required for this year's Grand Festival."

"Please! That's nothing!" Ash said. "I've been in the regional leagues thirteen times and I'm currently training to challenge the Sinnoh Elite Four!"

Paul smirked. "I can do better because I'm part of the Hoenn Elite Four," Paul said.

"So if you're better than me, then why did we tie during the last battle we had?" Ash asked angrily.

"Because you had a type advantage!"

"So? It's called strategy!"

Paul opened his mouth to speak but Dawn cut him off. "Relax! You're both amazing trainers!" she said, pushing the two rivals apart before sitting back down beside Paul.

We all continued to introduce ourselves to Chloe who was now all calmed down when she was served a glass of Sprite.

"We're here," she said when we got to the sushi place. "Thanks Jim," she said as she handed him a fifty-dollar bill. "Go buy yourself something nice."

Jim smiled at Chloe before letting us all off.

When we were all in the restaurant, we got an unexpected surprise.

"Drew-y! I'm here!"

All of us, except for Drew who was in the bathroom changing into something more casual, turned towards the door and saw Brianna standing. She was furiously scanning the place for her green haired beau.

"Where's my Drew-y?" she asked angrily.

Chloe stepped up to her with an extremely unhappy expression. "I thought I told you to go away," she hissed. "I'm not spending the night with some b****y, uber-obsessed, annoying, slutty, fan girl," she said, poking Brianna backwards.

"I was invited by my Mister Drew," she said with a pout. Just then, Drew decided to come back out from the bathroom and Brianna immediately spotted him.

"Drew-y!" she said, running over to him. She gave him a hug before she realized he wasn't wearing the tuxedo she picked out for him. "Where's your tux?" she asked innocently. "You looked so sexy in it."

"Lily," he said with a sigh of exasperation, "it was getting really uncomfortable and I don't want to ruin it."

Wow. Even a Magikarp could tell that Drew was completely fed up with "Lily" and was spinning out lies faster than an Ariados spins a web.

Brianna a.k.a. Lily, smiled at Drew before pulling him in for a long, extremely exaggerated kiss that earned an unhappy frown from Chloe and astonished looks from everyone else. But for all the kiss was worth, Drew looked like he wasn't really enjoying it. I don't know why but the fact that Drew wasn't kissing back as hard as Brianna was kissing. made me feel a little better.

_Why do you care? He's your performing partner! Why do you care about them? You have Brendan! You have a fabulous boyfriend who would do anything for you and adores you! He never insults you or calls you a weak coordinator! So why are you so concerned about the insulting, cabbage-head of a coordinator and his uber-obsessed girlfriend?_

I sighed. My emotions at the moment were swirling faster than one of Dawn's Piplup's Whirlpools. Brendan? Drew? Drew? Brendan?

Soon, Brianna decided she had enough of sucking face with Drew and let him pull away but she still clung onto his arm tightly. She whispered stuff into his ear and her phrases were littered with girlish giggles. I felt like gagging but I wasn't the only one. Misty looked like she was about to barf while Ash just stood there trying to comprehend what was going on. As usual, he was as thickheaded as he normally is when it comes to romance.

"Food's here," Chloe said blandly, obviously disgusted by Brianna and Drew, more or less Brianna then Drew. "Dig in. It's all on me."

"FOOD!" Ash said before starting to stuff his face.

"Some things never change," Misty said with a roll of her eyes.

* * *

**::DREW::**

Tell me again why I decided to date Brianna again?

She decided to show up at the restaurant and lied that I invited her and because Chloe invited me, she could come in. Idiotic security guards.

After that, she decided it was a good time to make out with me while we waited for the food. Not that Brianna's not a good kisser or anything, but I didn't really enjoy the kiss. There have been much better kisses in the past, most notably the one May and I shared four years ago at the end of the Sinnoh Grand Festival.

The thought of that kiss made me want to lean over to her and do it again. She looked so hot right now, but then again, May always looked hot. Her hair fell in loose, gentle curls over her shoulders with a yellow rose tucked into the gentle waves of curls. She wore a yellow ruffled tank top with a shade that matched her rose and a pair of dark skinny jeans. I could see her every curve and it just further made me want to kiss her and mesh right up against her.

_WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU HAVE BRIANNA! THE GIRL SITTING RIGHT BESIDE YOU? MAY. IS. NOT. YOUR. GIRLFRIEND!_

While we were eating, we all were talking to Chloe in between bites of sushi, except for Brianna, who couldn't get to Chloe no matter what she did. Chloe flat out refused to acknowledge that Brianna was even there.

"So Misty, I hear you're the Cerulean Gym Leader?" Chloe asked as she turned her attention from Ash to Misty.

"That's right!" Misty said happily.

"That's great! I'd like to have an unofficial battle sometime. I'd love to see how my water-types match up against a gym leader's!" Chloe said with a smile.

"Misty's really good with water-types," Ash chimed in. "She even raised a Gyarados from when it was just a Magikarp!"

"Really?" Chloe asked, obviously impressed. "I know how hard it is to raise Magikarp," she said. "The first Pokemon I caught was a Magikarp and because I didn't really know what to do with it, I lost a ton of battles when I was just starting out."

"Misty owns a ton of water Pokemon and they're all really strong," Ash said with a smile.

"Oh Ash! They're not that strong!" Misty protested.

"Sure they are!" Ash said.

"If you say so," said Misty with a shrug.

Chloe laughed and then turned her attention to May and me. "So you two are performance partners and long time rivals? I'd like to see a contest battle between you two sometime," she said.

"You should see me and Drew battle!" Brianna said excitedly. "It's so intense!" I rolled my eyes. Whenever Brianna battled me, she always ended up going soft on me and where's the fun in that? She was probably only lying so she could get Chloe to want to see her battle, but like always, Chloe ignored Brianna.

"It'd be cool seeing two long-time rivals who haven't seen each other in years battle," Chloe said.

May looked at me as if she were asking me if I agreed. I shrugged and said, "Sure. Why not? A battle with May would be great but I'm going to win this time."

Chloe clapped her hands together in joy while May laughed at my claim. "Not in your dreams!" she said with a competitive smile. "I'm going to win this time!"

We started firing friendly insults and threats at each other. I knew exactly which buttons to push to make May mad and I pushed those buttons, hard. It was only a matter of minutes before May was merely inches away from my face and extremely mad. I could've kissed her right there but I could feel Brianna's laser glare boring into me so I had to resist the urge which was only strengthened by the fact May was mad. She was so cute when she was mad.

After we finished our food, Ash insisted on ordering dessert and fighting with his rival Paul while Dawn tried to stop both of them without showing that she liked him. Meanwhile, Misty was also trying to restrain the Ash-Paul argument from getting out of control, literally trying to restrain Ash, physically.

"I'm going to go try and get a signal," Chloe said as she got up from the table.

Nobody really paid attention to Chloe except for May and me, mostly because we had nothing else to pay attention too.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

That idiotic b**** of girl B****anna. She HAD to come and ruin my perfect plan to get May and Drew together. Oh well, when plan A doesn't work, it's time for plan B.

I wasn't really going to try and get a signal, I was only trying to get outside and create a little rain.

"Vaporeon, come on out," I whispered as soon as I got out of the restaurant and out of sight.

Vaporeon appeared in her usual flash of white light and cascade of sparkles. She twirled around a bit before facing me.

"Alright, Vaporeon," I said gently. "I need you to use Rain Dance."

Vaporeon nodded and then started forming a large blue ball of energy in front of its mouth. Then Vaporeon turned her head up to the sky and fired. Almost immediately, rain clouds started to cover the sky and hard, driving rain began to pour down.

"Thanks Vaporeon," I said pulling out her Pokeball. "You take a nice long rest."

When I walked back inside to the restaurant, Brianna was using this time to cuddle up next to Drew while May glared at Brianna. Misty and Dawn were trying to break up the Ash and Paul fight by restraining their respective crushes. Me on the other hand, I was completely soaked from Vaporeon's Rain Dance.

"It's raining like hell out there," I said. "I can't get Jim to drive out here in this weather. I did get some bikes here though. I only have one right now, the others are coming. Hey Brianna, you can take the one I've got now!" I said as I grabbed Brianna's arm. "Toodles!" I pushed her out the door and had the security guard hand her the bike. She tried to get back in but the guards wouldn't let her.

Everyone looked at me with odd expressions but they don't really affect me. I'm used to people thinking I'm a complete lunatic by now.

"So! Pokemon battle anyone?" I asked with a smile.

* * *

**::DREW::**

I was really happy that Chloe had gotten rid of Brianna. I was just a little dumbfounded by the technique she used to get rid of Brianna. But, she was gone, and that was all that mattered.

Not that I didn't like Brianna anymore, it's just that she was getting really annoying with her constant clinging and giggling and Brianna-ness.

Now Chloe was just standing there with a Pokeball in hand, ready to challenge anyone who dared challenge the Chloe Sparks.

"Well," Chloe said as she tossed the Pokeball up and down. "Challengers? Come on! I'm not THAT hard to beat."

We all rolled our eyes. Chloe was pretty much invincible when it came to contest battles and good at regular Pokemon battles.

"I wanna have a battle!" Ash said stepping up.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said in agreement with its best friend.

"Yay! A challenger!" Chloe said excitedly. "Contest or two-on-two battle?"

While Ash and Chloe discussed their battle and started it up, the rest of us really had nothing to do but talk. Misty was refereeing Ash and Chloe's match. Dawn and Paul were talking. Only May and I were awkwardly sitting there.

"So…" she said.

I looked over at Ash and Chloe for a moment, trying not to let her see the blush that was creeping onto my face. I have hoards of screaming fan girls. I do not blush.

"You want to go get something to drink?" I asked, pointing to her empty cup. How it got empty was a complete mystery. May didn't even touch her cup throughout the entire night.

"Sure."

I helped her get up from her seat and walked with her over to the soda fountain by the wall. It wasn't like a normal soda fountain. It was an actual fountain, or at least half of a fountain. It was split up into different sections, each section for a different type of drink. If you didn't find a drink you liked from the fountain, you could go up and custom order one from the special drinks chef who was always on standby.

Chloe apparently noticed that we were going to get a drink together and pointed over to where the drink chef was standing. "Go get yourself something nice! I've got money to spare!" she called out before refocusing on the battle.

We both shrugged and went over to the chef, knowing that if we didn't Chloe was going to scream, yell, swear, basically throw a huge Chloe-sized fit.

We both placed out orders and waited patiently for the chef to prepare them.

Meanwhile, Chloe and Ash were still going at it. It was a two-on-two battle and right now it was Vaporeon verus Floatzel. The battle was taking place on the built in battlefield in the middle of the restaurant for entertainment. The entire battlefield was encased in a solid cage of attack-proof glass to prevent any accidents. Apparently, Chloe and Ash were too wrapped up in the battle to realize the door was open.

"Vaporeon! Use Bite and keep going until I say so!"

"Dodge it Floatzel!"

Vaporeon started snapping its jaws at Floatzel who was slowly backing away and towards the edge.

"Looks like Ash is trying to tire out Vaporeon," Paul said. "I would expect more from a person who's idolized for her battling prowess."

"It's Chloe. She probably has something up her sleeve," Dawn said in a slightly defensive tone as she curled up towards Paul.

"You're really —" Paul started but he was unable to finish as an interruption from the battlefield cut him off.

"ASH! Watch out! There's no more space to dodge anymore!" Misty called out. Sure enough, Floatzel was almost right up against the wall with Vaporeon close by.

"Now Vaporeon! Use Muddy Water!"

Vaporeon started shooting a spiraling shot of muddy water around, covering the entire battlefield and also shooting out the door… right towards us.

The impact of the attack hit us hard. Oddly enough, it hit us and only us. We were thrown backwards into the little hallway by the little drinks and sushi bar/counter. It lead to the bathrooms and employee room. Somehow, the attack blasted us into the hallway with me on top of May. This was… interesting…

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

So maybe I did set that attack up just to get May and Drew alone. So what if I did? Is it a crime to play Cupid?

I silently praised myself for thinking of such an ingenious idea to get them alone and together all while creaming Ash Ketchum in a two-on-two Pokemon battle. They didn't call me the Princess of the Battlefield for nothing. No really, that is the paparazzi name they have for me, when I'm in battle.

As for the cup, I drank all of mine and then discreetly switched it with hers, all part of my brilliant plan. For a dumb blond that's drunk half of the time, I know how to whip up a mean plan.

"Floatzel return!" Ash said, returning his Floatzel after I knocked it out with that Muddy Water attack. "You did great," he said.

"Ash your Floatzel has gotten really strong!" Misty commented from the sidelines. I've noticed throughout the entire battle, she was giving hints and strategies to Ash and staring at him for the majority of the battle.

"Thanks Mist! You helped a lot with Floatzel's training remember? It's all thanks to you that Floatzel is so strong!" Ash called back.

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu said in agreement.

Misty blushed and then waited for Ash to call out his next Pokemon.

"Go Snorlax!" Ash called out.

"Vaporeon return!" I said. I know Snorlax has a ton of power and amazing defenses but it was also slow. That's how I was going to win, by speed and power. I pulled out a Pokeball. "It's your turn my friend," I whispered. Then in a louder voice I said, "Let's do this Lucario!"

I heard Misty gasp as Lucario appeared.

"Ash! Be careful! I've seen this Lucario on TV before! It's really strong!" Misty called out.

"Don't worry Mist!" Ash said reassuringly.

Misty smiled/blushed and then called for the battle to begin.

"Go ahead Ash, make the first move," I said half-heartedly. I wasn't too concentrated on the battle right now. Instead, I was more or less concentrated on the chemistry between the other two people encased inside this glass cage at the moment… Mother always said I was good at multitasking…

* * *

**::MAY::**

Now I know how Katy Perry felt when she kissed a girl.

Drew was lying on top of me; our faces were separated by less than an inch of space. I could see his rock hard abs underneath his now drenched shirt. I could see each and every strand of emerald green hair and the way they flopped over his deep green eyes. I could see each and every eyelash that framed his eyes and the way they threw the light into his prismatic eyes. They were intoxicating, mesmerizing, and completely off limits.

However wrong it felt, it felt so right too. Our bodies fit together perfectly like two puzzle pieces awaiting their match. His emerald eyes stared into mine and I stared back into his with my sapphire ones. He breathed in, I breathed out. We were in perfect sync. Almost like we were made for each other… which is crazy talk! Is it?

Suddenly, Drew's arms collapsed and out lips collided. In a split second after that, his hands grabbed mine and squeezed them tight. I could feel his heart pounding against me and I was pretty sure my heart was doing the same. His lips tasted just like they did four years ago, only this time, they were completely drenched from Vaporeon's attack. I felt his tongue brushing against mine and I let it in. Our tongues collided and it felt so wrong yet so right.

Eventually, we both came up for air and we stared at each other in awe.

"Brendan!" I said while he said, "Brianna!"

We both got up and straightened ourselves off. Now we were drenched, embarrassed, and pretty darn pissed at Chloe. Nonetheless, the kiss felt great and personally, I can't deny that.

"Great job Lucario," Chloe said from the battlefield.

We both walked out to see a severely weakened Lucario standing by Chloe's side while Ash was recalling his Snorlax. When Chloe saw us, the corner of her lips turned up into a small smile before going back into a frown.

We picked up our drinks and walked back to our seats. Everyone seemed to be talking with each other and having fun.

"I'm going to go outside and see if the d*mn bikes are here yet," Chloe announced loudly before walking outside, neglecting to return her Lucario back to his Pokeball.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

So my plan worked… sort of. I got May and Drew to kiss but they also feel guilty about it.

"Lucario, let me know if anything goes on in there," I said quietly.

Lucario nodded and then started focusing in using its powers of Aura.

The Rain Dance I called up earlier was still in effect. I could've called out Flareon to stop it but Flareon could take damage just by being out in the rain. Leafeon would probably be better.

I called out Leafeon and had her fire a Sunny Day into the sky before calling her back.

"Rr," Lucario said as he tugged on my sleeve.

"What is it Lucario?" I asked.

Lucario refocused his Aura and sent me a picture telepathically. It showed May and Drew sitting side by side at the restaurant. May asked Drew if they should just forget that ever happened and just stay as friends. Drew nodded his head and the picture ended there.

"Thanks Lucario," I said before returning him.

I sighed and looked up to the now perfectly clear sky. There was a clear, full moon out tonight, reminding me of painful memories but I shook it off and started refocusing on a new plan. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, and try again.

* * *

**A/N: A couple of notes...**

**1) So I finally got around to explaining the confusion over Lily/Brianna**

**2) When Chloe says "That idiotic b**** of girl B****anna. She HAD to come and ruin my perfect plan to get May and Drew together. Oh well, when plan A doesn't work, it's time for plan B." you might be wondering why there r stars in the middle of Brianna. What Chloe is saying is "that idiotic b**** of a girl B*tchanna." does that clear things up?**

**3) I'm starting a companion story to this. It's all about our favorite, swearing, top coordinator/matchmaker Chloe and why she's so determined to make sure May and Drew get together.**

**4) The color of May's rose is sort of an indicator of where they are right now. A chapter or two ago, May had a white rose which stands for innocence. At that point, their relationship was pretty innocent (The kiss that took place four years ago, they weren't dating anyone so it's still in the realm of innocence.) Now it's a friendship, as it always was, just not as innocent. Roses will be sprinkled in throughout the story so keep an eye out! ;)**

**5) I'm going to be trying to do an Ikarishipping fanfic when I get a good idea so keep an eye out for that too! =)**

**That's about it for now! I'm getting to work on chapter 5 so expect that in a couple of days or so. **

**~Sugar and Limes**


	5. Harley

**::MAY::**

Why did I tell him I wanted to be just friends? Why did we kiss? Why did I even sign up for this thing in the first place?

My mind was swirling at a million miles per hour as I face planted straight into my hotel bed sobbing. I managed to hold off the tears until I was in the safety of my room. The kiss. The words that slipped out of my mouth. Him.

The kiss felt so good, but it was wrong. I wanted to keep going forever but my conscience was holding me back. It was like forbidden love, the type they always speak of in Romeo and Juliet types of stories. I was always one of those people who would just be reading the book or listening to the song and just be thinking in my head, "Don't go looking for trouble! If you go with him, you're going to end up breaking your heart! Just stay away and you'll be fine!" Now I know why they just don't stay away. I want more. If only Brendan were here I could kiss him instead! But the kiss Drew and I shared felt so much more different than the kinds Brendan and I share. Drew's felt more natural, sweet, loving. There was a spark there. For some crazy reason, I don't feel the spark between Brendan and me anymore.

_Stupid. Stupid! STUPID! Why'd you have to go and kiss Drew? Why? You have Brendan! Your Brendy!_

I felt the tears soaking the comforter on the bed. _Why did I tell him I wanted to stay as friends only? _

I could just deny my feelings for him but I know that would only lead to more heartbreak. Or I could cheat on Brendan with him but that would also lead to heartbreak. I could completely ignore him but that too would end in heartbreak. No matter what I do about this situation, heartbreak is the only option.

I decided if I called Brendan, maybe I'd feel a little bit better. I slipped into the booth and dialed the Snowpoint City Pokemon Center's number. That's when I remembered I was still dripping wet from that Muddy Water attack. I silently cursed Chloe and started to get up when Brendan picked up.

"Hey Babe," he said with a smile. Then he noticed my soaking wet clothes. "What happened?" he asked.

"A little battle accident courtesy of Chloe Sparks," I said.

"You were battling Chloe Sparks?" Brendan asked, wide-eyed.

"Well, I didn't battle her," I said. "I was watching from the sidelines and she used this HUGE Muddy Water attack and I just happened to be in the way. So here I am! Soaking wet with mud infused water!"

Brendan laughed. "You always were somewhat… accident prone," he giggled, referring to my clumsiness.

I laughed too. Brendan had this great way of making me feel better, only it was different from the way Drew cheered me up. Drew felt, almost like, a (do I dare say this?) boyfriend. Brendan did it in a best friend kind of way. But it should be reversed! Brendan's by boyfriend and Drew's my rival/best friend since forever!

"I'm going to get some shut-eye now babe," he said. "Tomorrow I'm going to go over to Pastoria City to challenge the gym there. Long trip! I'll call you tomorrow from where ever I am. Bye!" Then the screen went black and I once again had no one to talk to.

"Except me," a familiar voice said.

I nearly jumped out of the hotel room. "Chloe what are you doing here? And how'd you get in? And how'd you know what I was —"

Chloe stepped out of the shadows and smiled. To her side were her Lucario and Gallade by her side.

"I was doing some special training specifically for my two fighting types here," she said sweetly. "And then Lucario happened to pick up on your loneliness through Aura and Gallade picked up your thoughts," she explained. "So I thought you might need some company!" She smiled brightly and I sighed.

"I'm fine Chloe," I said, not in the mood for her rapid mood swings.

"If you're sure," she said hesitantly. "Oh by the way, an old friend of mine told me to send a message to you." She smiled. "He knows you too. Make sure you call Harley over at the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center." Then with a smile, she walked out of my room, leaving me alone.

I decided to call my extremely flamboyant ex-rival over in Goldenrod like Chloe told me to. Unlike Drew and I, we've seen each other here and there within the last four years but we never battled against each other. For some reason, Harley's always had a knack for locating me wherever I was and we had a couple of chats on the phone every now and then.

I dialed the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center's number and waited for my flamboyant ex-rival to show up on the other end. After a couple of seconds or so, Harley showed up so abruptly I was surprised.

"May hon! How have you been?"

"Great Harley," I said shakily. Maybe it was a bad idea calling HARLEY for company.

"So I heard for my old friend Chloe-bell that you're in the same tour as her and you're performing with Drew! That's so sweet!"

I backed up a little bit. "It really is…" I said.

"Isn't Chloe-bell fabulous?" Harley gushed.

"Extremely…"

"Check out my new outfit! I designed it myself just for my next contest! Isn't it fabulous?" Harley stepped back and showed me his new outfit. It was a puffy, balloon like crop top paired with a pair of skin-tight leggings. Both were a Jigglypuff pink color. On his head was a hat made of similar material as his leggings, topped with two rabbit like ears. "I decided it was time I paid tribute to my dear Wigglytuff!" Harley said happily.

"That's great Harley…" I said, backing away as far as I could without slamming into the door.

"I love it! And you look fabulous too Honey!"

I awkwardly grinned. "Well, uh. I've got a big day tomorrow so I'll talk to you later…" I said, desperately trying to end the conversation.

"Awwwww. Okay. I'll be watching the tour on TV! Toodles!"

I immediately ended the call after that and sighed a sigh of relief. How Solidad, the only sane person I know, understands and is good friends with him is completely beyond my reach.

I took a quick shower and got dressed in my pajamas before dozing off into dreamland.

* * *

**::DREW::**

When I got home from the sushi place, I felt, sad, confused, and lost, and all because of one girl who I haven't seen in four, long years.

I can't brush off that kiss. It was better than the one four years ago, yet it was worse. The one four years ago held no guilt. We kissed and it felt good, no yucky aftertaste. This one felt even better, but there was that disgusting aftertaste, of cheating, and we both knew it. I may seem like a player as far as the media is concerned but I hate the idea of cheating, and I'm pretty sure May hated it too.

But that wasn't the worst part. Afterwards, she told me she wanted to just forget the kiss never happened and she wanted to stay just friends, which killed me, even though it shouldn't have because I have Brianna!

"Drewykins! How could you just stand there and let her do that to me?" she whined. "And the bike she left for me was all broken up and rusty! I demand you un-friend her ASAP!"

I sighed. "She's Chloe Sparks. And she's a nice person, she just doesn't want any fans around." I know it was a lame excuse but I needed to get her to shut up. I already had enough on my mind without her complaining about Chloe.

"Hmph!" Brianna said indignantly. "Nice person my a**!" she said angrily. "I want you AWAY from that b**ch of a person! You hear me Drew?"

That was another thing about Brianna that kind of annoyed was that she could be so bipolar. One minute she's glowing from an intense make-out session and the next minute she's bristling with anger about me not being as "in to it" as she was. And her bipolar-ness struck once again. She was just using yet another one of her pet names for me in a sweet and nice-y nice tone and then she starts swearing her a** off!

I just don't understand girls.

"I'm going to go take a nice long hot bath!" she said as she stuck her nose up in the air before storming off.

I decided to watch some TV while I waited for Brianna to finish up her nightly forty-five minute shower. There wasn't much to watch except for a special on _Coordinator Channel. _Tonight's special was part of a series they were doing in preparation for the tour's opening performance. This time, it was all about… May? And me?

"The dynamic duo all the way from the Hoenn region started out together back when they were only ten! Since then, they have traveled through the Hoenn, Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh regions together, taking the contest world by storm!"

Lies, lies, lies. We did not travel together (even though I wish we did) and _I _took the contest world by storm. (Okay, so maybe May did do pretty well as a coordinator.)

_Ugh! FOCUS! May's your performance partner! Quit thinking about her that way! She's a weak, pathetic, dimwitted trainer!_

Yet I just couldn't shake her off. I knew I was just using lies to diminish the effects of other lies, which was no good because then I'd be spinning a web of lies in my head. Confused yet?

"Now we turn to an old friend for some background history on the dynamic duo of May and Drew! Take it away Harley!" the newscaster said as she pointed to a big screen behind her.

I nearly fell off my seat. HARLEY? It couldn't be the same one. Not the Cacturne loving, scum eating, lying Harley that we all knew and somewhat loved? I stared at the screen in shock. It was Harley, only dressed in a different suit. Over the years I've known him he's done Cacturne, Ariados, Octillery, and Banette, in that order. Those were all pretty easy to identify, only this time it wasn't that easy. He was wearing a puffy pink crop top and a pair of pink skin-tight leggings. On his head was a tightly gripping pink hat with Lopunny-like ears, only without the fur. In other words, he looked like a butchered Wigglytuff.

Harley started blabbering about our first four years together. Some of it was true. Most of it was his butchered opinion. And this is generally why no body really listened to the drama queen we all know as Harley. During the entire segment, I was silently countering all of Harley's heinous lies with the truth in my mind.

"And now I have a SUPER EXCLUSIVE clip of a SUPER ADORABLE May and Drew moment after the Sinnoh Grand Festival!" he said cheerfully.

Oh no. It couldn't be. He wasn't even there when we did it! Was he trying to ruin my life? What is he thinking? What will May say?

"And roll it!" he said in his chipper tone.

I watched in horror as the clip played. And at that moment, Brianna decided to cut her shower short and spend some time with her "Drewykins." I desperately tried to turn off the TV but it was no use. And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

**A/N: Okay. So I know it was short but I wanted to end it there for now. If you remember a couple chapters back, you'll probably guess correctly which little scene Harley is playing. ;) So Harley has some guest appearances in this chapter. Who would you like to have guest appear next? I'll have a poll up on my profile soon. If it's not there right now, bear with me. It'll be up by tomorrow promise.**

**I also promise the next chapter will be longer than this. Pinky-swear! I also pinky-swear that the next author's note won't take up half of the actual chapter. (Hyperbole, yes, but I tend to exaggerate A LOT)**

**On a much less chipper note, WHERE ARE ALL THE REVIEWS? I only have like two reviews for chapter four! I know school's starting but it doesn't take long to write a review! Generally I don't demand reviews in return for updates but TWO REVIEWS for one of the longest chapters I've wrote so far? Seriously peoples? I know I'm acting like a spoiled brat but I am a **_**teensy bit **_**pissed off about the dismal amount of reviews I got for the last chapter. **

**Now because I'm such a spoiled brat, I'm not updating again until I get twenty-eight reviews? Understood? Fabulous. And for those of you who reviewed already, LOVE YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Reviews really help out a LOT. The last sentence goes out to everyone. If you hate it, TELL ME! If you love it, TELL ME! If you have a request or a suggestion, TELL ME! I won't know unless you TELL ME! I'm not an Alakazam any other psychic Pokemon. In other words, I can't read your minds so a review is very much appreciated. **

**Until then, here's your extremely spoiled brat of an author signing out. =P**

**~Sugar and Limes**


	6. Ruins

**::DREW::**

A very graphic clip of our little kiss by the lakefront appeared in high definition on the widescreen TV. The shot was taken at an angle where you could see all the details including the romantic sunset behind us. Arceus. Harley was going to pay for this, "this" being COMPLETELY RUINING MY LIFE.

"WHAT THE HELL DREW? YOU WERE KISSING HER?" Brianna cried out angrily. Tears were streaming down her carefully moisturized and toned cheeks. She was shaking so hard that the towel she had wrapped over her hair was unraveling.

"HOW COULD YOU?" she screamed.

Sh*t. This was not good.

"Ummmmmmm…" I stuttered. Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t. What have I gotten myself into? Why'd I sign up for this thing anyways? "That was four years ago…" I said, coming up with the best explanation I could possibly think of at the moment.

Crap. What was wrong with me? I know Brianna will NEVER accept that as an answer. I should've been able to come up with something better. I'm known for spinning out intricate combinations in the heat of a battle but I can't spin out a quick lie to my girlfriend who, let's face it, I don't have feelings for anymore?

Brianna pouted while the make-out scene continued on TV. "You always said you'd NEVER fall for a fan-girl and there you are sucking face with that SLUT!" she cried.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back my fists. Anyone who called May a slut needed to get their face re-arranged but for May's safety and my safety, I held back my balled up fists. "We weren't even dating four years ago," I said as steadily as I could.

She stomped her foot. "Well that's no excuse for going around kissing random SLUTS when your soul-mate, a.k.a. ME was waiting four you!"

I rolled my eyes. I had several objections to that claim but I wanted to keep May safe. I knew Brianna had a very rich dad who had some highly trained bodyguards with highly efficient guns and Brianna was anything but afraid to call them in. Now that I think about it, I think that's the reason why I started dating her. It was that or her continuous stalking got so unbearable that I gave in. Or maybe it was a combination of both.

She gave me her death stare for a moment before turning her attention to the TV where May was hastily saying goodbye to me before running off. Seeing that scene again hurt me a lot. I wanted to reach out and pull her in, keeping her by my side forever and always but for some reason, I didn't. The pain came rushing back to me and once again I bit my lip to stop the tears.

Brianna turned to me while the camera focused back in on Harley in his Wigglytuff suit. I felt a tiny smile curl up on my lips. Seeing Harley in that suit was pretty funny.

_At least he's good for something._

"Listen Drewykins," Brianna said, trying to be as serious as possible, "I'll let this one go but PROMISE me I'm the only girl you'll ever be locking lips with again," she said.

"Uhhhhh… sure," I said, though of course, that was a lie.

"And before I turn the camera away from little, adorable me, I have one last super adorable clip to show you!" Harley said happily.

I grabbed the remote before Harley could mess up my life even more and changed the channel.

"So…" I said awkwardly.

I didn't get a chance to continue as Brianna jumped on me and started making out. It felt odd, like I was cheating on May but there was nothing I could really do but go with the flow for now until she simmers down. Maybe then I could break up with her.

Then Brianna came up and stared at me intently. "From now on Drewy-pie, I'm not leaving your side no matter what." Then she went back in for more kissing.

Crap. Tomorrow was going to be hell on earth with Brianna trailing me through the rehearsal.

* * *

**::MAY::**

The next day started out pretty normal. I got showered, picked out a nice outfit, did my hair, the usual. After I finished doing my regular stuff, I walked over to my closet and picked out a pretty dress to wear for the dress rehearsal today. It was a light float-y dress. It had a sky blue color to it that twinkled and sparkled when I twirled. The skirt was light and free flowing making it feel weightless, a quality I desired in contest outfits I wore.

I packed it up nicely in a bag and headed over to the contest hall, stopping by the café to pick up a smoothie for breakfast. The walk to the contest hall was pretty peaceful without Drew's fan-girls around. Needless to say, I was in a pretty good mood when I arrived at the contest hall. Unfortunately, that good mood didn't last for long.

"What do you mean I can't enter? I'm part of the tour!" I said angrily.

"I'm sorry Miss but the contest hall is only for performers only," the guard said.

"I told you I'm part of the tour!" I yelled angrily. "I am MAY MAPLE!"

"I'm sorry miss but I already let in a May Maple with her partner Drew Hayden. Now if you'll just —" The guard was cut short by a very angry voice.

"Now just who do you think you're telling to exit?" Chloe asked. She was standing behind me, apparently sober. "This is the real May Maple and whoever you let in before was an imposter."

"Good morning Miss Sparks and I'm sorry you are mistaken but —"

"No buts," Chloe said firmly. "Get that other one out here ASAP and let her in or else I quit the tour and Arceus knows how upset Mr. Contesta will be when he finds out you let his star coordinator quit the tour."

"Yes. Of course. Right away Miss Sparks," the guard said, not wanting to face the combined force of Chloe and Mr. Contesta's wrath.

Chloe smiled. "That's more like it," she said deviously. Then she turned to me. Without the alcohol messing her up, you could see the intensity of her blue eyes. Unlike mine, hers were a stormy blue that were perfectly capable of seeing straight into your soul. They could be totally charming when she wanted to be charming but at the moment they were angry and stormy.

"Explain," she simply said.

"I just got here and the guard wouldn't let me in because apparently someone else came here pretending to be me with Drew," I said.

Chloe looked up and glared at an approaching trio coming out of the contest hall. "About time you got here with them," she said angrily.

I looked over too. Sure enough, there was the guard along with Drew and someone else. The mystery person had combed her auburn hair into my old hairstyle and was wearing a skin-tight red dress. She was clinging onto Drew like fresh plastic wrap and from my point of view, he didn't look too happy about the whole setup. If I were him, I wouldn't be too happy either. He was wearing a tux and being dragged around by a beefy security guard with a slut-ish girl on his arm.

"This is the girl I let in earlier Miss Sparks," the security guard said.

Chloe twirled a lock of curling blond hair before stepping up to the mystery girl. She stared at her with hatred then pulled out a Pokeball.

"Vaporeon! Use Water Gun!" she said, throwing the Pokeball in the air.

Vaporeon appeared dutifully before firing a powerful Water Gun at the mystery girl's head. Immediately, her hair sagged back into its natural shape, ridded of the heavy amount of hair products she put into it.

Then Chloe stepped up to her and pried her away from Drew and shoved her at the security guard. "She's an imposter," she said simply. Then she pointed to me. "She's the real deal." Then she said, "Watch this. Vaporeon return! Espeon! Come on out and use Psychic!"

Vaporeon was returned to its Pokeball in favor of Espeon who loyally used Psychic for its trainer. In a matter of seconds, two tiny lenses popped off mystery girl's eyes, revealing mystery girl's eyes true colors. Instead of the sapphire blue they appeared to be, they were a blue-y green color.

"This," Chloe said, gesturing to mystery girl, "is none other than the original b**** herself, Brianna."

"What's Brianna doing here?" I asked.

Chloe turned to glare at Drew, demanding an answer and Drew gave in quickly to a combination of Chloe's death glare, my glare, Brianna's glare, the security guard's glare and the general pressure put on him at the moment. "She insisted on following me here. She didn't want to leave me so she got this so-called brilliant idea of dressing up as May and being my new partner."

Everyone was satisfied with that answer except for Brianna who started glaring at everyone else.

Chloe turned to the security guard and with a steely look in her eyes she said, "I want her banned," before trotting off inside.

I turned to Drew and shrugged before following her inside.

* * *

**::DREW::**

Note to self: remember to thank Chloe later for saving my butt back there.

Now we were backstage at the contest hall. May was getting ready and I fingered my tux nervously. The thing with our tag performance was that if we looked mismatched, our performance would look that much worse. I nervously picked at the lily that Brianna pinned onto my tuxedo. Ugh. I couldn't wear a lily during our performance. No. It has to be a rose. I'll give May a rose too so we match.

Just as I was finishing pinning on the rose, May stepped out of the dressing room in a light blue float-y, layered dress that flowed freely around her legs. The top of the dress was tight and strapless and made of silk.

She twirled around, showing off the lightness of the dress. Then she turned to me and asked, "What do you think?"

I smiled. "It's okay," I said. No way was I going to admit she actually looked pretty in the dress.

Then I tossed her a red rose similar to mine and she looked at me with a confused expression on her face. "What was that for?" she asked. I smirked and said nothing but helped twist it into her long, silky locks. She blushed and I felt a sense of accomplishment.

I felt myself leaning in. _Crap. _My arms slid down to her tiny waist. _Get the hell out of there before Harley gets this on video! _I pulled her in closer. _WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DREW? _I went in for the kiss…

But got interrupted by Chloe yelling at a beefy security guard. "I thought I f***ing told you to keep that b***h out of this place!"

"Yes Miss Sparks. I will notify the others."

"You better!" she snapped. Then she softened up and smiled charmingly. "If you successfully keep her out, I'll talk to my uncle _Volkner _who's now part of the _Sinnoh Elite Four _to get you a job at their headquarters," she said sweetly.

The security guard nodded and dashed away quickly.

Then Chloe turned to us and saw our awkward position. Her brow furrowed. "Whycan'tyoutwojustmakeoutalready? Makemylifeeasierandjustdoit!"

We stared at her in shock. "Is she drunk?" I asked.

"Probably not," May replied. "She hasn't yelled at anyone for giving her a glass of water over a martini yet."

She stared back at us and stormed off, angry that we didn't get the message.

"Should we just forget she even said that?" May asked quietly.

"I guess," I said somewhat reluctantly.

I don't get it. How does she not like me? I have hoards of screaming fan-girls all over Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh and the girl I like just happens not to be one of them. At this point, I guess you could say I'm getting desperate for May's attention.

"May!"

We both turned around to see Dawn and her orange haired partner come running towards May. Dawn was wearing a pink hoop skirted dress and her partner was wearing a blue stylized suit.

"Dawn! Zoey!" May said happily, rushing over to her friends. They started furiously talking in a way only girls could. I decided not to interrupt their girl-fest and find a videophone to call home.

"Congratulations! This is your fifth ribbon I suppose?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

"Haha!" And there was that familiar laugh belonging to a certain _life wrecker. _"Chloe dear! It's only my fourth but after I pay a short visit tomorrow I'm heading straight for Blackthorn City and winning my last contest there."

I looked over. Sure enough, Chloe, all dressed up in her contest outfit and Harley, still wearing his hideous Wigglytuff suit were chatting it up on a videophone.

"You'll do fabulous Harley!" Chloe said happily. "How's that new Toxicroak and S of yours?" she asked with a smile.

Toxicroak? Well, Harley's always had a love for odd Pokemon.

"He's doing fabulous!" Harley said happily. "Oh! And Solidad tells me to tell you 'Hi!'"

So Solidad knew Chloe too. Go figure. They probably met each other at a contest or something.

"Oh look Sugar Snap! We have a visitor!" Harley said gleefully, pointing to me. I glared at him but he seemed oblivious to it.

Chloe smiled and clapped her perfectly manicured hands together. "Drew! I take it that you know my good friend Harley?" she asked sweetly.

Good friend? Well, one crazy nutcase deserves another.

"Yeah," I said as I turned towards the screen. "We've known each other for a while. Harley was always stirring up trouble back in Hoenn, Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh," I said.

Chloe giggled. "You naughty boy Harley!" she play-scolded.

Harley filed his nails. "Like you wouldn't do the same hon," he said before inspecting them.

Chloe laughed. "I'll leave you two alone to do some catching up while I speak to Contesta about changing my performance."

"Toodles!" Harley said before turning his attention to me. "So hon, how's life treating you?"

I glared at him. "Why are you trying to ruin my life?" I growled. Harley looked at me quizzically then I cried, "Those clips of May and me kissing! What if May saw them? What if her boyfriend saw them? I know my b*tch of a girlfriend saw them then basically threatened to kill May!"

By now, all eyes were on me but I seriously didn't care.

"Oh pish posh," Harley said, filing his nails again. "They were just innocent harmless fun. Besides, even with that playboy persona the media creates for you, there has to be some truth behind it," Harley said casually.

"Not really…" I mumbled as I held back my fists. Harley better be thankful he was all the way over in Johto and not face to face with me.

"Anyways, I'll be there tomorrow cheering you on! Toodles darling!" Harley said before ending the call.

Grrr. That Harley was going to get it!

Just at that moment, Chloe decided to waltz into the room, head to toe in her master coordinator glory.

"How was your little chat with Harley?" Chloe asked cheerfully.

"You don't want to know," I responded stonily before walking away.

* * *

**::MAY::**

"You look so pretty May!" Dawn said happily. "Drew is going to be all over you!"

"Who said anything about Drew?" I asked defensively. "And besides! I have a boyfriend!" _Just keep telling yourself that May. You have a boyfriend._

"Awww. May's blushing!" Zoey said teasingly.

This was getting out of hand. Time to turn the tables on them. "So what Pokemon are you using in your performance?" I asked.

"Zoey's using Glameow and I'm using Piplup," Dawn said happily. Then, as if on cue, Piplup puffed its chest up and said proudly, "Piplup!"

Zoey apparently saw past my attempt to turn the attention away from me and said, "Did you see the special on you and Drew last night?"

"No…" I said. What special? "I was too busy washing off Vaporeon's Muddy Water attack," I said. Then I held up a lock of hair just to check there wasn't any leftover mud.

Zoey laughed then got serious again. "It was done by some guy named Harley on the _Coordinator Channel," _Zoey said. "It's part of a special series they're doing for the countdown to the opening day of the tour."

Harley? I didn't know he was a TV star. "Was this Harley wearing this hideous pink abomination of a Wigglytuff outfit?" I asked.

"How'd you know?" Zoey asked.

This could not end well. Knowing Harley, he probably twisted everything to make him look good at our expense.

"What was on the special?" I asked.

"Well…" Dawn started. "You probably should see it to believe it." Then she pulled out her Poketech and showed me a video clip.

Harley was all dressed up like Wigglytuff and was chatting mindlessly about us. Then he said he had a clip of us after the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Then Harley played the "super cute" clip and I thought I was going to die.

I never did regret having that kiss with Drew until now. In other words, I didn't really regret it that much until a certain purple haired, backstabbing, Wigglytuff dressed idiot we call Harley showed it to the entire world! How'd he even get that clip? He wasn't even there!

"I am going to die!" I moaned.

"I think it's cute," Dawn said after the clip was finished. "Besides. There was no harm done. You weren't dating anyone back then and neither was Drew! See? Happy ending! No need to worry!"

But Zoey didn't look so happy. "He did play another less innocent one though," she said warily. Then she took Dawn's Poketech and scanned through the clips before coming up to the right one.

It showed Harley still talking with a blurry video behind him. You couldn't see much except for a crop of green hair and a lock of brown hair making out in a dark hallway. It was kind of hard to tell but no doubt it was Drew with the green hair and me with the brown.

And it was taken very recently

At a sushi restaurant.

While we were both soaked with muddy water.

Sh*t.

Whoever took this/planned this was going to get it!

"Whatcha looking at?" Chloe asked as she waltzed in, dressed in a wedding dress.

I was too mad to properly string together a sentence so Zoey answered for me. "Apparently this guy named Harley played these 'super cute' clips of May and Drew kissing," she said angrily.

Chloe remained emotionless. "Why don't you talk to Drew about this? He just finished a little chat with Harley," she said, not relinquishing a single ounce of emotion.

"Maybe I will," I said softly before floating/storming off to see Drew.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

My plan was going perfectly. If they won't face the facts, then I'll make them face the facts. That's what devious little matchmakers such as myself do.

I have to remember to thank Harley later for doing all that for me. I was the one who got the clip of the sushi restaurant and the one after the Sinnoh Grand Festival. How I got them would remain my little secret though.

"So you know May?" the redheaded girl named Zoey asked me. According to what I heard, she was also a Top Coordinator, and a very talented one to boot.

"Yeah," I said as I twirled a lock of curly blond hair. "We met yesterday. They decided to try and stop me from drinking my a** off and I decided I liked their spunk," I said simply before taking a sip of water. Lately, I've been trying to stay sober to focus on the little matchmaking task I've taken on.

"I first met her during the Wallace Cup five years ago," Zoey said. "She beat me in the semifinals and we've been close friends since then," she explained. "Because of that defeat, I've been working hard to defeat her in battle, something I have yet to accomplish."

"May's tough alright," I said. "Did you meet her partner Drew?"

"The one with green hair?" Zoey asked.

"The one and only!" I giggled.

"Yeah I met him," Zoey said. "He seems pretty arrogant and is always pushing May's buttons but he seems to motivate her even more than she motivates me," Zoey said. "They seem to work well together and I don't know, this is just a hunch, but they seem to like each other in a more than friends way."

"I know what you mean," I said. "They go perfectly together and you can just tell they like each other."

"Of course," Zoey said, "neither of them will ever admit it."

I said nothing but simply nodded. My little chat with Zoey confirmed exactly what I was thinking, that a) May and Drew are heads over heels in love with each other but b) they'll never admit it. My next goal is to figure out why and get them to face the music and that goal was going to be accomplished whether or not they like it.

* * *

**::DREW::**

I was still fuming after my little talk with Harley. There wasn't anywhere I could go without missing my performance so I simply walked myself into a quieter spot in the contest hall to fume and unwind.

"Drew?" a familiar voice called out.

I furiously whirled around and saw May scrambling towards me with a confused look upon her perfect face.

"Did you see those clips that —"

"Yeah I saw them," I said. "And I'm not happy with them." I looked over at May and saw her hurt expression before quickly correcting myself. "I didn't regret the kisses," I said quickly, "I just wasn't happy with the fact that Harley played them without our permission."

She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and with an uneasy look she asked, "So what do we do about it? I'm pretty sure my boyfriend Brendan didn't see it so what he doesn't know won't hurt him? Right? Just as long as we promise not to do it again," she babbled.

"Uh… sure," I said. "So pretend this never happened?"

She looked back at me with an unreadable expression. "Yeah," she said quietly. Then she leaned in and gave me a hug. I didn't know what to do so I just hugged her back.

I was peacefully enjoying the moment when I saw a shadow move followed up with a flash of white fabric and a blond curl.

May looked up at me. "What's wrong Drew?" Then she realized she was still clinging onto me and quickly retreated.

"I think I saw something," I said quietly. Then quietly, I went in the direction I saw the shadow and May followed me.

We continued searching for the shadow but with no result. We were just about to continue going in deeper when an announcement for all performers to meet backstage in preparation for the beginning of dress rehearsal interrupted us.

"I guess we should go," May said before leaving.

I quickly followed behind her but for some reason, I felt like we were being watched.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

That was a close one.

Great. Now I need an alibi if they saw me sneaking around. Sh*t. What's a good alibi I can use? Maybe I can just say I was trying to find Mr. Contesta when I stumbled upon them and I didn't want to ruin the moment. Yeah. That sounds good.

"Alright Umbreon, you can come out now. The coast is clear."

Umbreon stepped out from the shadows and followed me out.

"Great job Umbreon," I said as I pulled out her Pokeball. "Take a nice long rest."

Umbreon happily returned to its Pokeball and I quickly trotted off to the backstage area, making sure no one was watching me. That would just put all of my hard work to waste.

* * *

**A/N: WOW! Thanks SO MUCH for the reviews! =) So if being a spoiled brat gets me more reviews, I think I should be a spoiled brat more often… ^-^ No. JK. I don't want to force you to review if you don't want to. I'm too nice for that =P **

**Anyways, hoped you liked this chapter. FYI, I'll be keeping the poll on my profile up until I write the last couple of chapters. I will remove the options one by one as I include them. I'm sorry Brianna and Drew didn't break up this chapter but they will eventually! Just keep your eye out for that! ;)**

**This is probably the last update until school starts so updates from now on are going to be sparse. Until next time. =)**

**~Sugar and Limes**


	7. How to Love

**Anything in italics center is flashback.

* * *

**

**::MAY::**

Ugh. Our portion of the rehearsal was terrible. I tripped and stumbled over my own feet more times than I could count and somehow I always ended up in an awkward position while I was falling. To make things worse, Drew always caught me… in the awkward position so we pretty much spent the entire rehearsal in near-kissing positions.

Now it was Chloe's turn, dressed up in full wedding garb, complete with self-satisfying smile and everything. The pool opened up for her and she stepped up to the platform and pulled out two Pokeballs. The announcer introduced her and then let her start.

"Introducing the magical wonders and splendors of," she started, while twirling around. Then she threw the Pokeballs in the air and two white fish-like silhouettes appeared in the mist of a cascade of sparkles, "Magikarp and Feebas!" she finished proudly.

We all sweatdropped backstage. Seriously, I think we were all expecting something a bit more… spectacular, like her highly trained and very powerful Eevees and their evolutions or her dragon type Pokemon or something along those lines.

She smirked as her Pokemon dived straight into the pool from the air.

"Now Feebas Water Pulse! Magikarp! Spin and use Tackle!"

First Feebas unleashed a powerful Water Pulse from its mouth before Magikarp came barreling down while spinning rapidly. Magikarp's Tackle collided with the Water Pulse and the rapid spinning of the Tackle turned the Water Pulse into spinning tendrils of water around Magikarp. Magikarp kept going though until it hit the water and the combined force of the Water Pulse and Tackle created a large ring of water splashing up.

"Now Magikarp! Use Splash! Feebas! Spin and use Mist!"

Magikarp started jumping around in the water creating water arches. Meanwhile, Feebas, who was still suspended in mid-air, started unleashing clouds of sparkly white mist around the stage in a spiraling formation. The Mist attack also lightly froze the water, giving it a semi-frozen quality to it. The semi-frozen water reflected the sun's powerful rays and made Feebas sparkle and shimmer.

"Let's do this Magikarp! Use Bounce followed with a full power spin-Tackle!"

Magikarp jumped out of the water before turning around and heading at full speed back to the water while spinning. The spinning motion drew in the surrounding water from the previous setup and created a horizontally spiraling pattern around Magikarp. Chloe started spinning too and because Magikarp was going down in a downwards spiral, the force of the Tackle caught onto the outer layer of Chloe's dress and drew it in too, giving Magikarp a tail-like accessory and also revealing Chloe's dress to be purple. Magikarp soon hit the water creating another ring of water. Only this time, Feebas didn't freeze it.

"She's doing a really good job of showing off her Pokemon," Zoey said. "Just look at how beautiful Feebas looks and how strong Magikarp is. They've probably both been ready for evolution for quite some time now but just probably don't want to evolve," she concluded.

"Now Feebas! Use Hypnosis!"

Feebas's eyes glowed red then the water also glowed red and froze in its tracks.

"Now use Dive!"

Feebas then headed straight down in a nosedive and with the Hypnosis still in effect, glowing tendrils of water started going down with Feebas. When it started to spin, the water began to spin too, making it look like Feebas was spiraling down with glowing streamers of water next to it.

When Feebas hit the water, Chloe then called out another attack. "Feebas! Use Whirlpool!"

Feebas summoned up a large whirlpool right in the middle of the pool.

"Now Magikarp use Tackle full power! Feebas! Start prepping up a Light Screen!"

Magikarp immediately started zooming in at high speeds towards the Whirlpool and started cutting it down into shape. The top of it now looked like a weird upside down skirt and the bottom looked like… well, like a thick line.

"Now Magikarp! Tackle on the light screen!"

"What's she doing?" Zoey asked frantically. "Is she trying to hurt Feebas?"

"Knowing Chloe she's probably got something up her sleeve. She's like Solidad as far as her coordinating genius goes, only nuttier," Drew said.

Magikarp was now barreling straight at Feebas but then the minute it hit the Light Screen, it turned up and the flow of water led the shattered pieces of light energy towards the line part of the whirlpool where it was drawn in and gave that part a green-ish glow.

"It's the same color as your hair Drew," I said semi-consciously.

Drew smirked at me. "Do you really pay that much attention to my hair?" he asked arrogantly before doing that cute, I-MEAN-ANNOYING, hair-flip of his.

"WHAT? Of course not!" I said defensively. I could feel a deep red blush creep up onto my face.

Drew smirked and reached towards my head. He picked up a lock of my hair and twirled it around in his fingers. I couldn't help but blush. As annoying as Drew was, he was actually pretty charming sometimes.

_What are you thinking? You should be immune to those annoyingly cute hair-flips, and those prismatic emerald green eyes, and… AGH! STOP IT MAY!_

I tried my best to ignore Drew but it was hard so I tried to focus all my attention on whatever Chloe was doing onstage. At the moment, her Feebas was glowing pink and fearlessly riding the top part of the whirlpool, spreading around the pink-y glow.

"Let's finish this! Magikarp! Use Tackle!"

Magikarp dove down into the water than came surging back up, lifting itself and Feebas up into the air before they came landing back down gracefully beside the pink-y red whirlpool creating a shower of sparkles, which rained down upon the whirlpool giving it some definition. From here, it looked like a rose.

Chloe bowed before taking the mike away from the host and saying, "I'd like to dedicate this performance and this rose to Drew and May! A couple days ago before I met them, I was troubled and drunk but they helped me see the light. But not only that, they showed me how to truly love again. Thank you," she finished with a small bow before returning her Pokemon and walking backstage.

Everyone else backstage was touched by Chloe's kind words to us but I knew, and I'm pretty sure Drew knew as well, that there was a hidden message in her loving words.

When Chloe arrived backstage, she immediately spotted us and walked over. "I really can't thank you enough for _showing _me how to love again," she said, putting emphasis on the word "showing."

"Uhhh, no problem," Drew said semi-cautiously.

Chloe smiled sweetly before walking off to talk to Zoey and Dawn.

"I can see why she and Harley are like best friends," Drew muttered. Then he turned to me and asked, "Do you want to —"

_Was he going to ask me out? Arceus! What do I do if he does? I have a boyfriend already! But I'll admit, he is kind of hot. What am I saying? I HAVE BRENDAN!_

"— go train our Pokemon a little bit?" he finished.

I put on a fake smile but needless to say, I was a little bit crestfallen. For what though? It was just Drew! My rival! My friend! My partner! Right?

"Sure," I said.

"But how do you know what you need to train if you don't see how you're doing?"

We both turned around and saw Chloe standing there with an innocent smile on her face. "So before you train, why don't you watch your performance today and see how you can improve it? I'll help!"

Then she marched over to us and grabbed our wrists before dragging us into a small room. She pressed a couple of buttons in rapid-fire mode and soon a video of our performance came up on the screen.

Right off the bat, I was seen tripping over the hem of my dress and Drew immediately caught me and teased me about my clumsiness.

I could see Chloe giggle before quickly recomposing herself. I decided to brush that off.

Next we called out our Pokemon and that went fairly well… until I tripped over the hem of my dress and once again went tumbling into Drew's arms. On the monitor I could see him sigh in mock disappointment before hoisting me back up. I saw I had a deep red blush on my face; that just made me blush even harder now.

We continued watching the video. I had a blush on my face the entire time. Drew merely looked amused and Chloe was doing her best not to burst with laughter. I rolled my eyes at the latter. It's not like she hasn't tripped up before.

When the video finally ended, Chloe flicked on the lights and excused herself for a moment. A second or two later, we heard loud, rolling laughs coming from down the hall. These went on for a couple of minutes before Chloe finally let out all of her laughs. I merely rolled my eyes and this made Drew even more amused.

Chloe came sauntering back in with a pleased smile on her face. "So," she said. "Now do you know what you need to work on?" She giggled a little bit before straightening herself once again and smiling.

Drew smirked and replied, "I don't need to work on anything." He finished with a hair flick and a charming smile that usually works on any female that's not a lesbian. It had absolutely no effect on Chloe though… mostly because she was scanning through the video to prove Drew wrong.

Drew scowled and I laughed. He looked so cute when he was mad, which was rare to see from Drew.

"Here," Chloe said, pointing to the screen. "You do see how Beautifly is spinning in place while Masquerain is sort of spinning while flying around in a small circle? It's not much but having Masquerain fly like Beautifly will make it look much tighter and neater."

Drew looked dumbfounded but quickly recomposed himself. "I guess you learn something new everyday," he said with a smirk.

"Well I'll leave you two to your training," Chloe said in a calm voice. "I need to mix up some more Poffins and Pokeblock for my Pokemon. Toodles!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Drew cock an eyebrow at Chloe's Harley-like walk. Fortunately, she was subtler than Harley about his… unique style of walking.

I giggled a little bit and Drew smirked. Then silently, as if we read each other's mind, we both walked out onto the training field and called out our Pokemon. We both decided to work with our other Pokemon for the random battles that were going to be part of the show tomorrow.

"Rapidash! Take the stage!"

"Arcanine! It's your turn!"

* * *

**::DREW::**

We called out our Pokemon at the same time and they appeared with grace and elegance before getting serious for battle. I internally smiled a little bit. May's Rapidash looked seriously powerful and beautiful.

_Just like May. _When I realized what I just said mentally, I felt confused. _Do I really like her as more than just a friend? No… I think… I have Brianna as my girlfriend… but I almost _want _May. No. Correction. I _need _May. As a girlfriend or a rival or a friend is still confusing me. All I know is that I need her._

Then it hit me. Memories from the past came flooding back to me from the very first day I met her in Slateport City…

_I was walking along, minding my own business. It was a couple of days before the Slateport City Contest. I was planning on going to the private beach to let my Pokemon out to play. Unfortunately, when I got there, it seems that someone beat me to the beach._

_I was captivated the moment I saw her, not that I would let it show. I couldn't put my finger on what it was about her that made me so intrigued but she just caught my attention and apparently, I caught hers — and her Frisbee._

_When we started talking, I just naturally started being arrogant and jerky, which I always do with girls but afterwards, I felt kind of guilty about insulting her. She was actually pretty good. But it was more than that. She was different. I made a promise to myself that if I were ever to meet another rookie coordinator again, I would be nice to them, and hopefully May would see I could be nice._

_I couldn't wait to see May again._

"Rapidash! Quick Attack into Flame Wheel!" May commanded, snapping me out of my trance.

Rapidash wasted no time in running as fast as it could before starting up Flame Wheel.

"Arcanine! Use ExtremeSpeed!" I said, refocusing on the battle.

It was the perfect counter. ExtremeSpeed would negate the effects of Quick Attack and inflict more damage on Rapidash than that Flame Wheel because of types. But May had a smile on her face. There was more to her attack.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she called out the next part of her plan. "Now use Stomp!" she commanded.

At that point, Rapidash was so really close to Arcanine and came out of the Flame Wheel, flickering fragments of the flames surrounding it still floating around eerily, before rearing up onto its hind legs and bringing the front ones down hard on Arcanine, stopping the ExtremeSpeed attack dead in its tracks.

I smirked. She has gotten better, by a lot. I wonder what else has changed.

"Not bad May," I said suavely. "I can honestly say I didn't see that coming." Then with a flick of my hair, I pulled out a rose and threw it to her. It landed gently in her hands and she blushed.

I gave her my most charming smirk and then prepared to call for a Thunder Fang but was abruptly interrupted by clapping. We both averted our attention from the battle for a moment to see Chloe, Dawn, Zoey, Ash, Misty, and Paul standing there behind us. Chloe was the only one clapping though.

"Bravo my fellow coordinators!" she said cheerily. "Especially you May," she said with a smile. "Carry on!" she said happily. Then she flounced over to the sidelines and smiled.

May took this time to regain her composure and order an attack while I was distracted with whatever Chloe was up to. "Rapidash! Use the Bounce-Poison Jab combination!"

"ExtremeSpeed into Thunder Fang!" I commanded, fully absorbed back into the battle.

But May only smirked. Then she mumbled something quietly. I tried to make it out but I just couldn't hear what she said. I tried to focus on reading her petal-soft lips but to no avail.

Then the Thunder Fang hit, energized by the ExtremeSpeed but May did nothing to dodge it. Something was going on. A thick cloud of smoke billowed out from the contact point clouding our view but even through the smoke, I could see a smirk on May's face.

"Rapidash! Use SolarBeam!" she commanded.

Out of nowhere, Rapidash came tumbling out of the sky, its horn glowing white as it gathered up solar energy. Then it shot the powerful beam of solar energy right at Arcanine.

"Dodge it!" I commanded frantically.

Arcanine tried to spin out of the way but the SolarBeam still hit his back legs causing him to go off-balance when he landed.

"Poison Jab!" May said enthusiastically.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded right back.

"You can take it Rapidash!"

Then Rapidash dived right into the flames. This was not looking good for Arcanine. The flames only motivated Rapidash even more as it stored up the poisonous energy in its horn, which was now growing larger and even more eerie in the blazing flames.

"Use Hyper Beam Arcanine!" I commanded. Yes it was a risky move but I wasn't going to let May win this. She may be my friend but she was still my rival, and I will never forget that.

Arcanine unleashed the powerful beam of energy at Rapidash and hit it head on, throwing it backwards. I could see the horror in May's eyes, a look I knew very well. I've seen it time after time in our battles, she would gain the upper hand but I would always turn the tables. That's what made our battles so amazing.

"Get up!" she said frantically.

Rapidash struggled to get up but eventually did and May smiled brightly. Then she flashed me a look that said, _"This battle isn't over Drew. Just wait." _And I flashed her a confident look that said, _"Give up already, you know you can't win against me."_

She gave me a competitive glare. _"You want to bet?"_

"_I don't need to. I know I'm going to win."_

"_I've got three Ribbon Cups!"_

"_Same here! Got anything else?"_

"_I beat you in the Sinnoh Grand Festival!"_

"_That was four years ago!"_

"_A win is a win."_

"_You're still just as immature as you were four years ago, you know that?"_

"_And you're just as arrogant as you were four year ago! Mr. Rose!"_

I felt a blush creep up onto my face. The last time she called me that was when we were just meeting Brianna for the first time. I quickly regained my composure though. She wasn't going to win this. _"You are going down."_

"_Bring it."_

"Ummm," Dawn asked cautiously. "Are you two going to battle or just stare at each other all day?"

We snapped out of our mental-verbal war and looked at each other with confused expressions. Then I felt my insides soften. May looked so darn cute when she was blushing! Is it just me, or did her blush just deepen? Arceus she was cute.

"Well," a different voice piped up. "I suppose we could go and take a rest. The two Pokemon must be exhausted."

We turned to see Chloe standing up from the crowd. "How about we all get some lunch?"

Personally, I wasn't all that hungry but May eagerly jumped onto Chloe's offer, so did Ash. Chloe took us all to this local noodle place and treated us to lunch.

"Isn't this great?" May asked happily. She just finished slurping up a noodle and had a small, really cute dribble of soup on her chin. On anyone else it would've looked messy. On her, it looked adorable.

_For Mesprit's sake what am I saying? Why are you so interested in May? You have Brianna! Arceus Drew! You always say you're not a player no matter what the tabloids say so stop acting like one!_

But despite my mental rant, I smirked, grabbed a napkin, leaned in, and wiped that tiny dribble off her face. I could see her blushing furiously. That's when I realized how close we were, close enough that I could see each and every individual, long, sweeping eyelash.

"Ummmm…" Ash said uncomfortably, "can I get the soy sauce?"

I reluctantly withdrew myself so he could get his dumb soy sauce and rolled my eyes.

The rest of the table continued to go on like nothing really happened. Zoey and Chloe were talking about Leafeons or something like that. Dawn was trying to talk to the extremely anti-social Paul without blowing up in his face. Ash and Misty were just being Ash and Misty. Only May and I sat there in utter silence.

"Soooo," I said uncomfortably. I didn't get it. I could keep my cool remarkably well in a crowd of screaming fan girls or on the world's biggest stage but if May was anywhere near me, I felt my heart beat speed up just a tiny bit. Every minute I'm with her, I was constantly fighting off a blush. It didn't make sense. She was my friend, my rival, my partner. She was not my girlfriend. In the name of Mew, why do girls have to be so complicated?

"Ready for the performance tomorrow?" she asked sweetly.

I nodded. "I just hope Mr. Contesta made sure Chloe wasn't going to enter the battle rounds."

"Little Drew is worried?" May asked teasingly.

"Shut up," I muttered. "Like you wouldn't be worried too."

She shrugged. "Point taken. But Chloe HAS been defeated before." Then she took a sip of her drink. "Chloe told me earlier that a special friend was coming over tomorrow for the kick off performance."

"It better not be Harley," I groaned. Just thinking of that purple-haired wacko made me shiver from the inside out.

May laughed and I listened to her laugh and only her laugh. It was a sweet, melodic laugh, as innocent as she was. It was something that sounded almost like a baby Pokemon's laugh. Sweet, soft, twinkling.

"Well who knows who Chloe invited over. She's connected to just about every important figure there is in the Pokemon world," May reasoned.

I smiled. Not a smirk, a smile. A May-induced smile.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

Everything was going amazingly. While Zoey and I were talking about all things Leafeon, Dawn and Paul were having another argument/chat, as were Ash and Misty. The couple that really intrigued me the most was May and Drew. They were laughing and smiling and exchanging jokes related to me. It was all so organic.

The hardest part about matchmaking is letting go and letting the lovebirds do their stuff without meddling. So far, there were only two instances which were purely theirs, the rehearsal today, and now. Things were looking up.

"I say it's time to go back for some more training," I said, standing up. Then I waved for the waiter to come over with our bill and quickly paid before we all hightailed it out of there.

By the time we got back, it was about four o'clock and general rehearsals were over. We decided to do some makeshift performances in the training lot behind the hall.

After some performances by Zoey, Dawn, May, and Drew, we all went back to the Pokemon Center to get some dinner and heal our Pokemon before heading to the hotel. Ash went to the Cerulean Gym to crash over at Misty's place and Paul stayed at the Pokemon Center. Dawn and Zoey soon got off at the eighteenth floor of the hotel leaving just Drew, May, and me in the elevator alone. They eventually got off at the second highest floor, floor thirty-three. I had to wait just a little bit longer for this thing to take me up to the penthouse.

Once I was in, I drew up a bath with extra bath salts and bubbles. All I could do now was just wait for tomorrow and hope that my good friend would help out my case here.

* * *

**A/N: Heyy! It's been a while since I've updated hasn't it? Anyways, sorry if you found this chapter a little bit disappointing. Next chapter will be the big first day with a special guest appearance brought to you by popular demand! I have the next couple of chapters planned out in my head… I just need to write them. =P**

**A little interesting tidbit about this chapter: May and Drew's floor is the number of the first episode they met (from the AG series. Not the show entirely. AG033. Look it up on Bulbapedia.)**

**School's been keeping me busy but I'm trying to work on this for at least a couple of minutes each day. Anyways, I'll stop mindlessly blabbering now.**

**Reviews are appreciated, blah, blah, blah, {the usual stuff people put down here.} **

**Bye for now! =)**

**~Sugar and Limes**


	8. Backstage

**::MAY::**

Today was the day. The big performance. We got here late because Brianna was being all clingy with Drew so we missed Chloe's friend's big kick off performance. Dawn told me it was epic.

"Ready for this?" Drew asked as he gripped my hand. We were sitting backstage, watching the first couple of coordinators perform. Even though we've seen them time after time, they each looked magical and enchanting. I was hoping ours would look the same.

I nodded nervously and Drew gave me a smirk. "As usual, May has no self confidence at all."

That got me riled up. I stood up defiantly and got ready to yell at him but Chloe decided to waltz into the room, dressed in an entirely different dress. It was a powder blue, princess-styled dress with a sweetheart neckline and embellished with pretty beads.

"J'aime aujourd'hui!" Chloe said happily with a twirl of her dress. "Encore!"

Chloe then started rapidly talking in French, peppered with the occasional, "Encore!"

"How is she not nervous?" I muttered silently. While everyone was going over routines and stuff, Chloe was twirling around like it was just another regular day.

"She's Chloe," Drew muttered back.

Then she noticed us standing there uncomfortably and smiled at us. "Vous deux coup d'oeil si joli ensemble!" she squealed.

We looked at her quizzically and she frowned at us. "You don't know how to speak French?" she asked unhappily. "Quelle tragédie!" She looked at us again then slapped her forehead. "What a tragedy!" she translated. "You two look so cute together!"

We looked at her quizzically again, not because she was speaking in a foreign language or anything, because of what she said. About us being cute together.

"Well," she started impatiently, "say something!"

"We're excited for today too," Drew replied smoothly.

"You speak French?" I asked.

He shook his head but then mouthed the words, "I only partially understood what she was saying. Basically, I'm winging this."

Chloe gave us a small smile before spitting something out in French. The only word I understood from that string of French words was "Fantina."

"May! Drew!" a familiar voice called out.

We looked over to see Zoey and Dawn walking over.

"Ready for today?" Zoey asked happily. She didn't look a bit worried. Something about her calmness always reminded me of Solidad, a little bit of Drew, and to a point, Chloe.

"I guess," I said sheepishly.

"No need to worry May!" Dawn said happily. I smiled. It happened to be one of Dawn's confident days today. She was all smiles in her pretty dress.

"May! Drew! You're up!" the stage crew said. They ushered us away from Dawn and Zoey and we stood in the wings while we watched the other people go. Their combinations were so simple, but yet extremely polished and I gripped my dress in worry.

Drew raised a perfect brow at me and mouthed the words, "Chill," to me before turning his attention back to the stage.

I took a deep breath and calmly waited. To entertain myself, I started watching the people in the audience. There weren't many people I recognized, just a person there, a person here, a… Jessadia?

I decided to shrug that off and continued scanning the crowd. Just as I finished looking through, I saw a familiar white hat pass through the contest hall doors…

"Brendan!" I whisper-shouted.

Drew shot me a confused look but shrugged it off. Then he spotted Jessadia and mouthed to me, "Is that Jessadia?"

I slapped my forehead and mouthed back, "I honestly don't care if that's Jessadia or not! My boyfriend is here to see me all the way from Sinnoh!"

I saw Drew's lips purse into a tight-lipped frown but he said no more.

"And next up we have May and Drew! These two have known each other since they were just little ten year old coordinators! Since then, each of them has won three Ribbon Cups and has participated in several Grand Festivals! So give it up for May and Drew!"

Drew gave me one last reassuring look before entering the stage. I did the same.

Once I was out, I looked out into the crowd and gave Brendan a big grin. He grinned back and I felt warm and tingly on the inside. But then I felt my smile morphing into a frown. The tingling wasn't as warm as it should've been. Actually, it almost felt lukewarm, not racing-hot, or even fuzzy-warm, just lukewarm.

I pushed that out of my mind and called out my Beautifly in sync with Drew's Masquerain.

Drew gave me one last concerned look before letting it morph into a smile. I smiled back.

* * *

**::DREW::**

Ugh. Great. The last thing I needed was for her boyfriend to be here. Not only will she lose focus on the performance, and the connection will be weaker and everything will feel like it's falling apart.

May flawlessly called out her attacks to her Beautifly and I think I did pretty well with Masquerain. The sparkling attacks mixed perfectly with the lighting, creating waterfalls of twinkling lights. Needless to say, May looked like an absolute goddess right now, basking in the glow of the sparkles.

We ended our performance with a flourish and May blew a kiss out to the audience. I angrily glared in the direction the kiss went to, which was a white-capped dude who blew a kiss back.

_That must be her boyfriend, _I thought angrily.

We walked off the stage — May was glowing happily, while Chloe floated onstage with a grin plastered on her face. May and I silently filed in backstage and watched her performance on the TV. Her eyes were filled with determination as she added the final touches to the watery rose and gave her speech.

When she came backstage, she was smiling at us.

"What did you think?" She didn't wait for an answer before walking off. Then she tossed her head back and said, "We're going to a buffet to celebrate the kick off of the tour. You're not allowed to invite other people without my permission. Call me for more details! Toodles!" Then without another word, she floated off into Chloe-land.

I saw May's face twist into a frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

She looked at me with a sad face. "That means I'm not allowed to invite Brendan," she whimpered.

I frowned, not because she wouldn't be allowed to invite him, because she romantically cared about a guy other than me.

_Why do you care? _I asked myself.

Nonetheless, I pulled myself back together and comforted her, reminding her I can't invite Brianna either. We sat like that for a while before a familiar voice shocked us out of our serene trance.

"You two look so adorable together!"

We both spun around and my arm withdrew from May's shoulders.

"And you told me you weren't dating!"

I internally groaned. Of course it would be Harley disrupting the peace. He was still wearing his Wigglytuff suit and was smiling broadly at us.

"Hi Harley," May mustered.

"Long time no see you two," another familiar voice said. Unlike Harley's voice, this voice was much more welcomed and controlled.

"Hi Solidad," I said with a smile.

"Your performance was great," she said with a smile. "There was some nice chemistry between Beautifly and Masquerain," she commented.

"Thanks," I replied.

"And you know what they say!" Harley sang. "Pokemon reflect their trainers!" he finished in a sing-song voice.

I saw May roll her brilliant sapphire eyes.

Harley opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by another voice.

"May!"

We all whipped around to see her boyfriend rushing towards her. I groaned with annoyance but I don't think anyone realized. Chloe was fuming that the little get-together she planned got interrupted. Harley and Solidad looked on with a piqued interest. May was calm, as if she could honestly care less about her boyfriend at the moment, which made me feel a lot better.

"Brendan," she said calmly, intercepting him with her arms, giving him a hug. He tried to kiss her but she smoothly twisted away.

Then she turned to us and said, "This is Brendan"; she hesitated quickly, flashing a look at me before saying," my boyfriend."

I felt a little part of me die right there. A rush of jealousy surged through me as I ached to be in Brendan's spot right now, slinging an arm around her soft shoulders, cheek brushing her silky hair.

"Nice to meet you Brendan," Solidad said, as calm and collected as ever. Her gaze still showed an interest in him, as if she were decoding him. "I'm Solidad."

Harley stepped up next. "Nice to meet you hon. I'm Harley," he said, with an extra big smile.

Chloe jerked her chin in his general direction. "Chloe," she simply said before walking off in the opposite direction.

"And who's the green-haired kid?" Brendan asked.

"My performance partner Drew," she said, choking slightly on the words "performance partner."

"Ohhh," Brendan said in a slightly suspicious tone.

_If you're going to accuse her of cheating on you, she's not! Anything that happened between us was an accident or history… even though I wish it wasn't._

"Sorry to interrupt," Chloe said coldly, "but we're planning a little celebration dinner between coordinators right now. You can come back later."

"Oh. Okay. Have fun _love_," Brendan said, giving May a quick kiss and glaring at me before leaving.

We stood in a microsecond of silence before another voice piped up behind me. "So I guess I'm not invited _again?_"

I looked behind me and saw Brianna giving Chloe, Solidad, and May murderous looks, and Harley a confused, bewildered, and grossed out look.

Chloe's eyes flashed murderously. "No you are not," she said, her voice dripping icicles. "Unless Drew _upright invites you_, same goes for what's-his-face, you. Are. Not. Invited."

Brianna turned to me with a look that said, "Invite me or I make your life living hell."

"I'm sorry Lily," I said calmly, "but I want a drama-free celebration night."

"Are you calling me dramatic?" Brianna screeched.

"Not you personally," I lied, "but I don't want Chloe getting mad at you again."

She huffed before storming away.

"Good riddance," Chloe said indignantly. She proceeded to invite us all to a party at a friend's mansion nearby, whose name she would not disclose before walking off to invite some other people.

May and I talked with Solidad while doing our best to ignore Harley. Eventually he got annoyed with being ignored and gave us a dramatic exit. In seconds we heard screaming and pouting so Solidad went to go check on Harley and make sure he wasn't tearing up the world, leaving me alone with May.

She awkwardly fiddled with the hem of her dress while I pretended to show interest in the people currently performing. Then May stopped twisting the fabric of her dress and asked, "Why do you think Chloe hates Brendan and Brianna so much?"

I looked at her with a surprised expression. I never really expected May to pick up Chloe's strong discontent for them, let alone out right address it. "I-I don't know," I said, stuttering a little.

She sighed. Then she leaned in to hug me before walking away.

I felt my legs twitching, aching to go run after her, but I didn't, and I felt it in every part of me; I felt like a total idiot. It probably didn't help that my head looked more or less like a Hoppip.

* * *

**Hey. :) So I'm not dead... I've just been busy. Anyways, sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but at least it's an update? :P Yeah I know, I sound so lame right now, but my brain is pretty much clogged with chlorine so bear with me here. Also about the chapter, sorry if it sucked or seemed choppy or the POV changed around. I wrote it in bursts with like 2 weeks in between each portion so I might not be extremely consistent on these. Please review. I'm only at 49 reviews... one short of that 50. Please? 0:)**

**~Sugar and Limes**


	9. Falling Apart Again

**::MAY::**

"Do you think this is too formal for a dinner party?" Dawn asked nervously as she inspected the dress in a mirror. It was a tight, cotton candy pink sheath with a halter neck made of shimmering sequins.

"Not at all," Misty said as she chewed on a granola bar.

Dawn held it up in front of her body. "The color goes well with that those new clips you got yesterday," I piped up. I reached for a handful of popcorn but then my phone went off. Misty dived in for it and tossed it to me.

"Hello?" I asked.

"May darling!" Chloe's voice squealed. "Listen sweetie, pack your overnight stuff as well… because it's a sleepover!"

"What? I'm not spending the night in a stranger's house!" I protested.

Chloe laughed. "I'd be surprised if you didn't know who he was. Charmingly brilliant."

"Like Harley?" I deadpanned.

"No, no, no," Chloe replied. "He's much classier than Harley, and a lot richer as well. Your friends should know him. He comes from a brilliant, and very famous family. Well I got to go darling. Toodles!"

"Who was that?" Misty asked.

"Chloe. She said to pack your overnight stuff because now it's also a sleepover."

"A sleepover…" Dawn mused. "Who's coming?"

"Besides us, I know Drew, Ash, and Paul are coming. Probably Harley and Solidad as well. Then add in Chloe and her mystery friend," Misty replied.

"Wigglytuff dude's going to be there?" Dawn asked with disgust.

Misty giggled. "Yes Wigglytuff dude is going to be there."

Dawn pretended to gag and Misty rolled over with laughter. I couldn't help but laugh too. Soon we were all on the floor rolling with laughter, unable to control ourselves.

After about a minute or two of uncontrollable laughter, we heard a knock on the door. Almost simultaneously, we got up and brushed ourselves off before Misty and Dawn pushed me to get the door.

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was a bouquet of flowers. There were lilies, tulips, daisies, carnations, and other flowers I couldn't possibly name, but there wasn't a single rose in sight. I felt my heart drop a little, knowing that it couldn't be Drew.

"Hey babe." Brendan's white hat popped out from behind the bouquet of flowers, followed by his eyes and a warm, grin.

"Hey," I said though a slightly strained smile. "What are you doing here?"

He leaned in over the flowers and pressed his lips against mine. I waited patiently for the spark, that pulse of warmth, but it never came. When he finally pulled back, he half-grinned/half-smirked before saying, "I came to see you. Who else? Beautifly?"

Normally, those words would've melted my heart, but I felt nothing. I looked dead-on straight into his eyes and peered into his heart. I could see the twitchy confidence in his eyes, almost as if the confidence was fake. I took a deep breath before honing in on what he was trying to do. For a moment, that hat disappeared and was replaced by Drew's familiar green locks. His attempt at a confident smile-smirk morphed into Drew's teasing smirk. Green eyes flashed at my blue ones followed by a flick of hair. I blinked and suddenly I was looking at Brendan again.

"May, are you okay?" he asked.

"Uhh… yeah. Sure," I replied, still a little dazed.

He smiled before leaning in again to give me a quick peck before saying his goodbyes and walking away. It was only then I realized Dawn and Misty were standing right behind the corner, watching and listening to the entire thing. When I turned around, Dawn gave me a disapproving "tsk."

"If you don't like the dude, dump him!" she said with an exasperated sigh.

"What do you mean?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what she meant. "I love Brendan!" I exclaimed in the most passionate voice I could possibly muster, even though it wasn't enough to convince myself.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Pfff," she blew, flicking her jewelry-adorned hand. "You know what I'm talking about. You don't like Brendan anymore. You're into that sexy hunk of Drew and I don't blame you. You want to feel those sparks that you get with Drew, not just that monotonous buzzing between you and Brendan. Just dump the guy already and put all three of you out of your misery!"

I stood there, jaw dropping. Dawn knew exactly what my heart was saying, and what I was too afraid to confirm myself. I looked to Misty for confirmation and she nodded in agreement.

"I still like Brendan… I think," I said hesitantly. "No, Dawn. You have it all wrong. I still like Brendan. My relationship with Drew is strictly friendly/professional." I paused for dramatic effect. "And furthermore, maybe you should try taking some of your own advice and apply it with Paul."

Now it was Dawn's turn to gasp with an open mouth. "I do not like Paul!" she screeched. "And _furthermore,_" she said, imitating my voice, "maybe you should stop being such a coward and admit you like Drew already."

I opened my mouth to retort but Misty butted in just in time.

"Chill!" she said cautiously. "Just get ready for tonight and chill!" She separated us the way a kindergarten teacher would separate the five-year-olds before starting to get herself ready.

The rest of the preparation for the party was dull and low key. The tension in the room was tighter than I've ever felt before. Dawn tersely curled her hair in one corner while Misty straightened hers in another and I picked out a necklace. The silence was astoundingly awkward. Thankfully, it was broken by a phone call from Chloe.

"Hey darling," she said as I picked up. "Listen, I need you to do me a huge favor. Could you make sure Drew knows that he's going to be getting a ride here in my private limo? Thanks sweetie. Love ya." And just like that, she hung up.

"What did Chloe want?" Misty asked.

"Just wanted to remind me to go remind the boys that we're getting a ride there in her limo. I'll go do it now."

I opened the door and walked out swiftly before anyone could say anything. Then I ran up to Drew's room and banged on the door. Drew opened it and just as he was going to yell at me, he saw me standing there and his face morphed into a smirk. Meanwhile, I was blushing like crazy, standing there in his shirtless-presence.

He wasn't completely shirtless; he was wearing a button down that wasn't buttoned at all. On top of that, the shirt looked crinkled in the hottest way ever. He wore a pair of low-riding jeans and his hair was slightly damp.

"Drew," I said, slightly breathless.

He smirked. "You've seen me shirtless before. What's the big problem now?" he said in a teasing tone, obviously aimed to get under my skin.

"Well…" I started. I seriously wanted to say he looked so much sexier now than four years ago but I couldn't say that to his face.

His smirk grew even wider. "I guess you can't take all of this," he boasted, gesturing towards his abs.

"Pffff," I said with a friendly, teasing eye-roll. "Of course I can take it!" I pushed him with my finger, in the chest, catching him off guard and pushing him into the bed. I overestimated my momentum and I ended up crashing on top of him.

Did I mention he was pretty much shirtless?

* * *

**::DREW::**

I was so glad Brianna was out running errands.

There I was, basically shirtless, with May on top of me, her face mere millimeters away. She was dressed in a gray cami and black yoga pants. Her hair hung loosely around her gentle face, falling in mine.

"Drew," she whispered softly.

I responded with a quick peck on the lips and immediately after, a red blush rose up onto her soft cheeks.

"This is so wrong," she whispered guiltily, "but why does it feel right?"

I smirked. There were no words that needed to be said. May was mine and we both knew it, somewhere. _But would we be willing to admit it?_

We have been rivals since we met. Then rivalry morphed into friend/rival, then slowly we faded from each other during those four long years. I saw her in the news all the time but I never could get the courage to call her.

_I saw the familiar brown locks in the newspaper, accompanied by a smiling face. Her blue eyes were shining like gems. It's been three years since I last saw those eyes in person. Three long years of loneliness. Of course, I had Solidad to keep me company, and Harley I guess, if you count that as a good thing, but no matter what happened, we never would cross paths._

_I felt a weird twitching sensation in my hand, almost like it was being drawn towards my phone. I itched to call her and talk to her for the first time in three years. _

What if she didn't remember me? _the little nagging voice whispered, preying on my worst fears. _She's a world-class coordinator, at least a thousand times better than the little May you knew. She probably knows so many amazing coordinators by now that you've probably been pushed out of her head. You'll never get her.

I came to the horrifying conclusion that I have no courage when it comes to May. I was a coward. Did I really deserve her? She doesn't deserve a coward.

My train of thoughts was interrupted by May's worried voice. "Drew," she squeaked, "are you okay?"

I shook myself out of my daze to gaze up at her worried face. "I'm fine," I replied, stroking her face to reassure her. "You better go before Brianna gets back." I gave her one last quick peck on the lips before pushing her off and closing the door.

Once the door was shut, I took a look at myself in the mirror. My face was flushed and my hair was tousled. Then I saw May's face next to mine, hair and face in a similar style, but only a lot more gorgeous. I saw her laughing, smiling, and finally, squealing with a ring on her left ring finger. I took a deep breath and I confronted myself again.

"You let her go again," I said to my reflection. "How many times are you going to let her go before you finally get the courage to ask her out?"

* * *

**::MAY::**

"What took you so long?" Misty demanded as soon as I got back.

"Nothing big," I lied. _I only cheated on my boyfriend AGAIN with the same guy AGAIN. On top of that, I don't think he's even that into me. He couldn't focus, like he was somewhere far off. Then he was so eager to get me out, it's like he doesn't want me there._

Misty cocked an eyebrow but didn't push the topic any further.

* * *

When we arrived at the host's mansion — yes, a full blown mansion with iron cast gates and everything — we were greeted by an army of butlers, bellhops, and waiters with platters of food ready to go.

"Where are we?" Ash asked between mouthfuls of food.

"Where do you think you are? You're in my mansion… Ashy-boy."

We all spun around to see a familiar head of spiky brown hair. Chloe smiled.

"What's up Gary?"

**A/N: Before anyone says anything, sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I hope everyone had a happy winter celebration, no matter what you celebrate. :)**

**Gary is now in the story (obviously) and I need some ideas on what to do with him. So if you feel obliged, please review but also in your review, tell me what your favorite shipping with Gary in it is. I can work in a love triangle if it's something like Egoshipping, which means unless you want Gary to be an innocent bystander in this story (which he won't be, but make him feel like he's part of the group), REVIEW!**

**~ Meeeee :D **


	10. Story of Us

**::DREW::**

"May I have your attention please?" Chloe said from the head of the table. "As you should know by now, this is also a sleepover in Gary's wonderful mansion. However, while this is a mansion, Gary does not have eight spare guest rooms that are not filled up with research equipment, Pokemon, or Pokeballs, which means you will have to share."

A collective groan arose from everyone at the table except for Chloe and Gary.

Chloe waved her hand passively and continued. "The pairings for the rooms are Misty and Ash, Dawn and Paul, Drew and May, Solidad and Harley, and finally me and —"

Before Chloe could finish, there was a cry of protest from Dawn. "I'm not sleeping in a room with him!" she said angrily. "And who made these pairings up?"

Chloe opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Paul. "Shut your mouth, Troublesome. I'm not too thrilled about this either."

"As I was saying," Chloe said, obviously annoyed. "Those are the pairings and I'm not going to change them. They were based off needs, wants, experience with each other, and personalities. Dawn," she said, turning to face Dawn, "if you must know why you're paired with Paul, it's because you brought enough clothes for a fashion show while Paul brought less clothes than a hobo so you can balance out the closet space." Chloe paused before asking, "Anymore objections?"

There was a wave of mumbling but no explicit objections. Chloe smiled before turning to a big white board she had covered up beside her.

"Good. Now that we have the pairings out of the way, time to decide rooms. There will be no dibs on anything because we're deciding rooms via Pokemon tournament!" she exclaimed before dramatically uncovering the white board.

"It's going to be set up in tag battle form. Losers of the first battle will battle each other for the small-ish room with a partial waterfront view. Winners of the first go onto the championship round. Winner of that round gets the presidential suite with a full waterfront view. Lots of closet space, blah blah blah, and whatnot."

May and I both turned to look at the board. I wasn't too surprised with the pairings. Chloe paired us up, even though I wish she hadn't. It's not that I don't like May, it's just that things lately have been awkward between us. I _wanted _to go up and kiss her but something was holding me back.

Chloe's voice interrupted my train of thought. "You've got thirty minutes to strategize!" she called out.

Dawn and Paul left the table in stony silence, typical for them. Misty and Ash were pretty happy. On the other side of the table, Solidad and Harley were, in a word, bemused. Chloe, who was sitting beside Gary, was surveying everyone with a complacent expression. When her eyes wandered over to us, her satisfied smile turned into a worried frown. She whispered something quickly to Gary before getting up.

"She better not be going for a drink," a new voice piped up.

We all turned to the doorway where a new girl was standing. She had on a short red skirt and a light blue tank top. She had a yellow bag slung over her shoulder. In her hand she held a white hat with a red ribbon. Her hair fell in a loose tumbling cascade over her shoulders.

"Leaf!" Gary exclaimed.

She grinned. "Hey Gary," she said. "Who are the new people? More of Chloe's friends?"

Gary laughed. "I doubt there's anyone on the world who isn't Chloe's friend. She's madly connected with anyone who's anyone."

Leaf laughed. She and Gary continued to talk lightheartedly, exchanging quips on various aspects of their lives. I looked over at Gary. His face was lit up happily. His eyes were sparkling and he was genuinely smiling. He seemed so happy. No, he was more than happy; he was in love. I frowned, wondering if I would ever be truly in love.

_You're in love, dumb-o, _a voice said in my head. _Open your eyes already! _

I shook the voice out of my head. What did it mean by that? I turned my head around to see May quietly listening to Gary and Leaf's conversation. She seemed entranced. I wonder if she was wondering what I was wondering about love.

* * *

**::MAY::**

Drew and I wasted the rest of our prep time sitting around doing nothing. It was just simply too awkward to try and talk to him after what happened earlier in his room. I pulled out my iPod and randomly selected a song. The first strains of loud, blasting country-pop music flowed into my ears followed by Taylor Swift's singing.

_I used to think one day I'd tell the story of us_

_How we met and the sparks flew instantly_

I flashed back to when we were ten. Everything was nice. We were simply rivals. We met that day in Slateport City on a private beach. He called my act cheesy. That got my attention right away. I couldn't forget him after that, only to come back in contact with him an hour later. He challenged me to a battle. Even then, he was arrogant. He nearly won but Team Rocket interrupted us. But there was something special about that day, but I don't know what.

_People would say they're the lucky ones_

_I used to know my place was a spot next to you_

_Now I'm searching the room for an empty seat_

'_Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on_

_Oh, a simple complication,_

_Miscommunications lead to fallouts_

I snorted. Our little complication was more than simple. I doubt even Taylor Swift could call kissing-your-rival-that-you-haven't-seen-in-two-years-who-also-has-a-girlfriend "simple."

_So many things that I wish you knew,_

_So many walls up that I can't break through_

_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room _

_And we're not speaking_

_And I'm dying to know is it killing you_

_Like it's killing me, yeah_

_I don't know what to say since a twist of fate when it all broke down_

_And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now_

A tragedy is right. We had it all. And now look where we are, all because of a series of stupid mishaps driven by hormones.

_Next chapter_

_How'd we end up this way?_

_See me nervously pulling at my clothes and trying to look busy_

_And you're doing your best to avoid me_

He was definitely avoiding me. Across the dining room, he was quietly reading one of Gary's researcher magazines. But every now and then, I saw his eyes dart up from the depths of the magazine to look at me quickly before ducking back down.

_I'm starting to think one day I'll tell the story of us_

_How I was losing my mind when I saw you here_

_But you held your pride like you should've held me_

_Oh, I'm scared to see the ending, why are we pretending this is nothing?_

The kiss (and the ones before it) were nothing. Right? I was simply a rival in the wrong place at the wrong time.

_I'd tell you I miss you but I don't know how_

_I've never heard silence quite this loud._

_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room _

_And we're not speaking _

_And I'm dying to know is it killing you _

_Like it's killing me, yeah _

_I don't know what to say since a twist of fate when it all broke down_

_And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now_

_This is looking like a contest  
Of who could act like they care less_

_But I liked it better when you were on my side _

I felt a tear form in my eye. Ghostly memories of our friendly-rivalry with no romantic tensions flooded my mind. I remembered the smell of the delicate red roses he'd always give me. I remembered the feel of the cool water that day of the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Every happy memory I've ever had with him came back, reminding me of the good times we had.

_The battles in your hands now, _

_But I would lay my armor down_

_If you say you'd rather love than fight_

_So many things that you wish I knew_

_But the story of us might be ending soon_

I stood up. No. Our story would not be ending soon, not if I could help it. I shut my iPod off and walked over to Drew.

"Ready to kick butt?" I asked happily.

He looked up at me with slightly confused and weary eyes. A moment later, he smiled, matching mine. "As always," he replied.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yay! Finally a new chapter! Sorry it took me so long! Sorry this one's a little short but I really wanted to just move on with the story. May finally admitted (to a degree) that Drew is more than just a rival! Yay! Next chapter will be the battles and maybe a little more admittance? We'll see. I still need to write the next chapter :P**

**Anyways, I don't own the song "Story of Us". All rights go to Taylor Swift for that. I don't own Apple, or iPod, or any of that stuff. All rights to go Apple. I don't own Pokemon. All rights go to the people in Japan who own Pokemon. **

**Reviews are appreciated :) **

**~ Liime **


	11. Battle

_Suggested listening for this chapter (I know I usually don't do these but these two songs just totally describe this chapter, especially the last part) – "Hot 'n' Cold" (Katy Perry) & "Hangover" (Hey Monday)_

* * *

**::DREW::**

Maybe it was her smile. No, not maybe, it was definitely her smile. When I saw her smile, I knew everything was going to be okay. And yes, yes we are going to kick butt.

"As always," I replied. I stood up and walked alongside her to the board that Chloe has laid out with where to go and who we were facing off against.

"We're going up against Dawn and Paul first," I said with an edge of fear. I knew Paul was really good, and absolutely ruthless while Dawn was a coordinator who focused more or less on the beauty of her Pokemon. This battle could either be the hardest battle we've had in a while or the easiest, depending on how Dawn and Paul work together.

"We're going to the pool for our first battle," May said. Then out of nowhere, she grabbed my hand and we started running off. A jolt of energy radiated throughout my hand. Adrenaline ran through my body and all of a sudden, I felt like I was in one of those movies where they grab each other's hand and giddily run off to go make out. I could see May shaking with happiness and excitement. I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

We kept running, not knowing where we were going. We seemed to be able to find every room in the mansion except for the pool. When we finally got to the pool, Gary, who was the referee for the match; Dawn; Paul; and Leaf, who was watching the match from beside Gary, were all waiting for us.

"What the hell took you so long?" Gary inquired, an edge of impatience creeping into his voice.

"Sorry," May said, looking down.

"Never mind," Gary said impatiently. "Get to your spot." Then he walked over to the referee's stand with Leaf standing sweetly beside him. "This battle will be a tag battle between Drew Hayden and May Maple on one side and Dawn Hikari and Paul Shinji on the other!" Gary announced. "Battle begin!"

"Go Buneary!" Dawn said happily.

"Pathetic," Paul commented snidely. "Ursaring, standby for battle."

Buneary bounced onto the battlefield happily while Ursaring appeared beside it.

A rush of panic overwhelmed me. I had no idea what Pokemon May was going to use. The same thought must've crossed May's mind because she looked at me quickly with a worried look. I took a deep breath and knew all we could do now was wing it. I motioned gently for her to call out her Pokemon first.

"Glaceon! Take the stage!" she cried as she threw Glaceon's Pokeball into the air.

I sighed a sigh of relief. At least I had some idea of Glaceon's attacks. I pulled out a Pokeball and hoped this would work. "It's your turn, Flygon!" I called out.

Flygon and Glaceon appeared on the stage in their normal grandeur with Flygon arcing over the pool and Glaceon.

"Glaceon! Ice Shard!"

With all of the grace she had, Glaceon jumped, flipped, and then let out a stream of razor-sharp ice crystals. They were zooming right at Ursaring and Buneary and they were doing nothing to stop it. I felt confidence surge through my veins. If they just stood around like that, we would absolutely win. At the last minute though, I saw a smirk creep onto Paul's face.

"Ursaring! Focus Blast!"

Ursaring put its huge paws close together and formed a glowing blue-white ball of sheer energy. Almost as if time were slowing down, the ball slowly grew bigger, until it nearly touched Ursaring's paws. Then in a single, swift, motion, Ursaring pulled its paws back then flung the glowing ball into the incoming shower of icy shards, shattering them all and sending the fragments back to Glaceon… and May.

"May! Watch out!" I dove off my stand and onto May's, knocking her over into the water before the icy shards could hit her. A split second later, the attack hit the wall of the pool hard and punctured the wall as we freefell into the water.

"Drew!" she sputtered once we surfaced.

"Sorry… I was only trying to protect you."

She smiled and I felt my face heat up.

"Will you two lovebirds get out of the water and continue the battle?" Paul sneered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see May blush furiously as she swam to the platform.

The rest of the battle carried on in a ferocious back and forth manner until it was only Ursaring and Flygon left. Glaceon knocked out Buneary earlier and it was two against one for a while until Glaceon went in for a close range attack and got pounded by Ursaring.

"Flamethrower!" I commanded.

"Hyperbeam!" Paul countered.

Ursaring began generating a hyperbeam in between its giant paws. "Now's your chance!" May yelled from the platform. She looked up at me with doe-like eyes.

I nodded. "Get in close Flygon then get out of there!" Flygon swooped in quickly, released a blaze of flame, then sped back out. Ursaring's groans echoed over the pool as it stumbled around, attempting to extinguish the flames. Then in a quick moment, Ursaring stumbled over the platform and into the water. Paul gasped as Ursaring tried desperately to swim but ultimately failed.

"Finish with a rock smash!" I said proudly.

Flygon dove in low and smashed his tail into Ursaring's head, shoving him underwater. A few moments later, Ursaring surfaced, unconscious. Gary raised his arm in our direction and called the match in our favor.

"Drew, you did it!" May squealed. Then she leaped up to hug me. Her sweet scent of strawberries wafted up to my nose. I felt like I was going to pass out from her proximity. Then without warning, she turned her face and kissed me… and I kissed back. It took us a while to realize what we were doing before we both awkwardly pulled away.

The next five minutes of waiting for the other battle to finish was pure awkward agony. We tried exchanging small talk but nothing was right. All I could think about was that kiss… and I'm pretty sure that's on her mind too. The moment when Chloe walked in just made our awkwardness even more awkward. She looked at us with a confused expression but walked on. Then Harley and Solidad came In. Harley winked at us, and Solidad laughed. I heard May attempt a thin chuckle but it came out more like a choking sound. The final moment was a moment of relief. When Ash and Misty walked in, we got up and walked in separate directions to the platform. No more waiting around awkwardly trying to stir up small talk. We were there to do what we do best. Battle.

* * *

**::MAY::**

I called out my Pokemon. He called out his. I called an attack. He called an attack. They didn't quite fit together; neither did we. Ash and Misty were pulling off an easy win. Chloe, our referee, was glaring at us the entire time, as if she expected another passionate act of… what were we doing anyways? Another passionate act of teenage hormones? Another passionate act of insanity? Another passionate act of… love?

"Solarbeam!" we both call out.

Misty smirked. "You both just made a bad mistake," she said giddily. "Lumineon! Ice beam!"

"Pikachu! Thunder!"

The two attacks formed a deadly beam that twisted and swirled around Beautifly and Roserade. Beautifly looked startled, to the point where it begins bumping into Roserade, threatening to push it into the dangerous barrier.

"Idiot!" Drew mutters.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" I ask, shoving him.

"YOU!"

"Better than being a conceited jerk-face!" I retort.

We begin shoving each other on the platform, threatening us with going overboard while Misty and Ash close in on our Pokemon, who have now lost all the solar charge they were building up.

"Jerk!" I yell.

"Idiot!"

"Look who's talking!"

"Yeah. Ugly-face!"

"You take that back!"

We continue shoving and yelling until Chloe finally has to call the whistle on us. "Chill out you two!" she shouts. "What has gotten into you?" She glares at us before continuing. "Seriously! One minute you're hugging and kissing, the next minute you're trying to kill each other!"

We look at each other quickly. The first thought that flashes in my mind is, "Who told her we did some kissing and hugging?" The second thought that flashes through is, "It's so complicated…"

Drew has the same expression on his face when he's caught off guard. It's my favorite expression. He looks so innocent with it on. It's the side of Drew we rarely see. Not the cocky, arrogant side that charms the heck out of everyone, it's the confused, sweet side of him, the side that brings out the little boy in him. I almost want to go over and comfort him… almost. It was so tempting... but I withheld. I know it would only freak him out more… and that was only the beginning.

"Well, say something!" Chloe insisted.

"I-I-I," I stutter.

"I'm not going to battle two people that can't communicate without something weird happening that totally screws them up!" Misty complains. "I want a battle, not a soap opera!"

"I agree," Ash said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"You don't sound or look like you do," Misty said.

"We're not doing anything for the time being so why not relax?"

"You're so lazy!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING ABOUT NOT WANTING A SOAP OPERA!" I burst. "I'm done with this drama! Chloe! Stop meddling! Misty! Ash! Just make out already! We all know you like each other!" Misty and Ash looked shocked while Chloe just shrugged.

"And you," I said, whirling around to face Drew. "You're the bane of my existence yet somehow I know if you died right here, right now, I wouldn't be able to live. You make life so freakishly complicated for me but I can't live without you. You make me want to scream and laugh at the same time. And damn we have to stop randomly kissing each other! We're awkward enough without it! But it feels so good! It feels so right while being so wrong at the same time! Damn it! You have a girlfriend! I have a boyfriend who I don't even like! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Then I do some platform hopping before running out of the room crying.

* * *

**A/N: So you probably all hate me now for my obscenely long absence. Here's a list of reasons why I could not update this story –hands out lists- Anyways… sorry this is so short too. I wanted to end it there though because it just seems like the right place to end it. Little bit of Pokeshipping in this chapter for any Pokeshipping fans out there ;)**

**So right now I'm on summer vacation and so I have time to update and write this. It also helps that pretty much the writer's block that's been weighing me down for the last couple months or so is finally gone and I have another wave of Pokemon nostalgia again. **

**I'm expecting to wrap this up soon. I'm definitely going to keep writing more Contestshipping. In fact, I'm working on one right now. On the flip side, I'm going to be deleting two of my stories. I already know which two I'm deleting and this will not be one of them. **

**So that just about wraps it up for this author's note. You're all super amazing and thank you SO MUCH for sticking around. You have no idea how much it means to me. I know I'm not the easiest person to work with but thank you SO SO SO SO much for sticking around anyways. You're the reason why I pretty much cranked out the last 3/4ths of this chapter anyways so thank you(: Special shoutout to AliMari for persistence and basically offering the final push that got this chapter done!**

**~ Limee **


	12. California King Bed

**Chapter 12. Enjoy :)**

* * *

**::MAY::**

I don't know what possessed me to break out like that, but I did. As I ran out of the room, I could hear Chloe and Drew calling me but I ignored them. Just as I turned the corner, I could hear Chloe hastily defaulting the match to Ash and Misty while Drew swore in frustration. One more thing he can add to the list of reasons to hate May.

"May! Slow down!"

I refused to look back to see who it was. Voices blurred in my mind. Hot tears streamed down my face. I was intent on getting out of here fast. I took some random turns before bumping into a beefy chest. I looked up and saw one of Gary's many beefy security guards.

"Thanks boys. I can take it from here."

Gary took my hand and dragged me into the nearest room. I didn't have the strength to resist. All I could do was sob and sniffle.

"What the hell, May?" he asked.

I sobbed even harder. Gary snapped his fingers at someone. A few moments later, I was handed a large, blue tissue box.

"Now tell me what happened," Gary insisted.

After a couple of sobbing and sniffling moments, I finally managed to stop crying for a couple minutes to tell Gary the whole story, from the kiss after the Sinnoh Grand Festival all the way to me flipping out 10 minutes ago. Meanwhile Gary quietly nodded.

"Holy crap. That's a hell of a mess you're in," he said quietly. I nodded.

"Listen hon," another voice piped up, "you're only causing more trouble for yourself." The speech was slightly slurred but it was still unmistakably Chloe's cynical voice. "Just breakup with what's-his-face already. I'm talking to Drew about breaking up with that sl*t Betsy or something."

I stared at Gary, shocked. "Don't be surprised hon," Chloe said calmly from the other end. "People owe me stuff. They do favors for me. Never let your guard down if you're dealing with me. Toodles!"

Gary blushed. "She's right you know." I cocked my head in confusion. "You are causing trouble for yourself by continuing to be with Brendan. We all know you like Drew. Hell, he's pretty sexy. But you're in denial. Usually, I don't agree with Chloe, mostly because she's usually drunk, but I agree with her on this. She's even sobered up to get you and Drew together."

"I'm not in love with Drew!" I burst

"Drunk or angry thoughts are true thoughts," Gary said.

"D-Drew's only a friend!"

Gary rolled his eyes. "Look. You can't deny everything in life."

"And neither can you Gary," Chloe piped up from the walkie talkie. "Leaf really likes you. It may not be as obvious as May and Drew-y here or even Ash-y boy and Misty, or Dawn and Paul, but she really likes you. Make a move already. She's shy. You're multi-millionaire researcher Gary Oak. She really likes you but she's afraid she's not good enough for you. Make a —" Gary awkwardly shut off the walkie talkie.

"You and Leaf?" I ask curiously.

Gary looked down and twiddled his thumbs awkwardly. "We're childhood friends…"

"You two would be so cute together," I gushed.

"Like you and cabbage-head?" Gary retorted.

I blushed. "We speak no more of each other's love life?"

"Agreed."

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

"Damn it, he cut me off!"

"It was kind of your fault for bringing up Leaf…" Drew said quietly.

"F-ck that. I'm here to talk to you about May."

Drew fell silent. He nervously pulled at a hole in his jeans.

"Stop denying it Drew. You heard what May said. She's confused too."

"Well screw that!" he yelled. "I have a clingy girlfriend, all my friends are trying to meddle with my life and my best friend/rival is confused as hell about how she feels about me!"

I picked up my vodka. I know I've been trying to get sober, but damn is that demon hard to resist in times like this. I could feel the alcohol working itself through my body, relaxing me and keeping me from slapping the kid.

"Drew, dear," I start, "you had to do something, and don't make me make you do it. I'm connected with everyone. I can easily set something up which forces you and May together. You're already going to be sleeping in the same room." I took another swig of vodka. "She really likes you. Sure she's confused about it, but in the end, what drives this whole crazy situation is your feelings for each other. Just get on with it. Make your move. Dump that sl-t Betsy or whatever."

"Her name is Brianna."

"Details, details," I reply, waving him off. A second later, I hear a dimmed crash. "Damnit. I thinkI'mgunnahavetapayfurthat," I slur.

"I thought you were trying to get sober," Drew stated.

"DoesitlooklikeI'msober?" I take another swig of the vodka. If I'm drunk, there's no harm in drinking more right?

Drew was furious at me. "May's right! Stop meddling! And if you are going to meddle, I trust a sober Chloe more than a drunk Chloe!" Then with a furious swipe, he knocked the vodka right out of my hand. Glass shattes over the pristine marble floor as the remaining vodka spills out.

* * *

**::DREW::**

I stumble up to the room we were assigned, given that we lost the battle to Ash and Misty. After she left, Chloe defaulted the match to Ash and Misty before calling Gary and making sure he got a hold of May somehow. Then she shooed the happy couple away before dragging me into an empty room.

I reach for the ornate doorknob and twist it. The room was lavishly decorated. The walls were a pale sea-foam green. There was a large window that took up one entire wall and opened up to a rounded balcony. It was a rather large room. When you walked in, the first thing you see is yourself in the mirrored wall. Then to your left is a California king sized bed. The frame is finely carved from what looks like high quality wood and finished with a shiny gloss. A thin, shimmery canopy goes over the entire thing. Next to it, on the side you enter from, is a small nightstand with a porcelain lamp and empty vase. I call out Roserade and ask for a couple roses to fill the vase with before recalling her. To the left of the bed is a vanity. Across the room from the vanity is a dresser. On top of the dresser is a large flat screen TV. On the right side of the room, there's a door that leads to the closet and a bathroom. There were visible beanbags sticking out from the closet.

I shook my head at the lavishness. "Oak family people," I chuckle. My luggage was already unpacked and neatly arranged in drawers. It was just a little bit too neat. Seeing as I didn't want to damage any of Gary's property, I find it adequate to throw off my shirt onto the ground. The minute it hits the floor, I feel a wave of untidiness wash over the room. Now it feels complete.

Just at that moment, May comes stumbling in with Gary steadying her. She takes no notice of me but Gary raises an eyebrow at my current state of shirtless-ness. He leads her over to the bed and turns on the TV.

"Hey dude," he says to me, "take it easy on her tonight. I know about this whole mess but she seems to be even more shaken up about it than you are."

I nod. "Thanks, Gary," I say.

"No problem dude."

I look over at May, who is now absentmindedly flipping through channels. I walk over to her and sit down on the bed next to her.

"What a mess we're in," I say, trying my best to stir up some conversation.

Her response was a soft whimper. Her large blue eyes are still fixated on the TV. Her hair was twisted up on the back of her head, loosely held together by a fragile plastic clip. I reach over and let it down. She pays no attention. I start running my hand through her soft brown locks. She smells like roses and strawberries. I inhale deeply, trying to get all of her scent.

We sit there for a while. After flipping through nearly all the channels, May stops at a music video channel. They were playing "California King Bed" by Rhianna.

_Chest to chest, nose to nose_

_Palm to palm, we were always just that close_

_Wrist to wrist, toe to toe_

_Lips that felt just like the inside of a rose_

_So how come when I reach out my finger_

_It feels like more than distance between us?_

_In this California king bed_

_We're ten thousand miles apart_

_I've been California wishing on these stars_

_For your heart on me, my California king_

_Eye to eye, cheek to cheek_

_Side by side, you were sleeping next to me_

_Arm in arm, dusk to dawn with the curtains drawn_

_And a little last night on these sheets_

_So how come when I reach out my fingers_

_It seems like more than distance between us?_

_In this California king bed_

_We're ten thousand miles apart_

_I've been California wishing on these stars_

_For your heart on me, my California king_

_Just when I felt like giving up on us_

_You turned around and gave me one last touch_

_That made everything feel better_

_And even then my eyes got wetter_

_So confused wanna ask you if you love me_

_But I don't wanna seem so weak_

_Maybe I've been California dreaming_

_In this California king bed_

_We're ten thousand miles apart_

_California wishing on these stars_

_For your heart on me, my California king_

_My California king_

_In this California king bed_

_We're ten thousand miles apart_

_I've been California wishing on these stars_

_For your heart on me, my California king_

Right at the end, May leans into me and starts crying. She knows. I know. This song is our reality. I stroke her hair and hold her gently until she falls asleep.

A couple hours later, I'm still watching TV, but I'm getting tired. I strip off my jeans, tuck her in, and slip in on the other side. I reach my arm out for her tiny hand, but it seems light-years away. Still, somehow I make it. I stay like that for another good hour, listening to her cry and whimper in her sleep. She looked like a small, helpless child. All I want to do is go over to her and comfort her until the bad dreams are gone, but what's causing her tears aren't bad dreams; it's reality.

* * *

**::MAY::**

The next morning I woke up sweaty and gross. Sometime in the night, Drew rolled over next to me and slung an arm around me. I gently shook it off. He looked so innocent right now. A look of confusion and sadness was etched onto his face.

"Drew."

He stirred slightly in his sleep. "May," he moaned. I waited for him to say more, but all the stuff he mumbled was unintelligible.

I run a hand through his silky green hair before going to shower.

:::

"You sure did sleep in," Dawn commented when I came down for breakfast. "Is Drew still sleeping?"

My voice felt thick and raspy so I just nodded yes.

"F-ck that," Paul grumbled from the other side of the table, "you just wake up way to f-cking early."

Dawn turned around to argue with Paul. I didn't want to get dragged into their petty little fight so I walked into the kitchen and started searching around for food. From the other room, I could hear Dawn and Paul going at it again.

"Shut up, Paul! No one asked you to wake up this early!"

"Well then quit your obnoxious singing in the shower in the morning!"

"I think you can live one day without your precious full eight hours of sleep!"

"Maybe I can but I don't think you could."

"You take that back!"

I rolled my eyes. They constantly clashed with each other. Dawn's bubbly personality was always at odds with Paul's sulky, cold personality. Yet some how they fit together perfectly. Whenever Paul was with Dawn, he seemed to have more of a lively spark, and Paul had to be the only person known who can moderate Dawn's bubbling.

"Arceus, May, this place looks like a pack rabid Pokemon tore this place up."

I turn around and I see Drew standing there, still shirtless. I look around at the kitchen. Sure enough, I did leave a total mess in my wake. "I'm hungry," I pouted, my voice still raspy.

Drew attempted to chuckle. "You sound awful," he notes. "Go drink some water."

"Go put on a shirt," I retort.

An arrogant smirk appears on Drew's face. "I need to talk to you though," he persists.

"Not while you're wearing nothing but your boxers."

Drew smiles a bit. "Fine."

A few moments later, he appears in a halfway-zipped-up hoodie, which showed off his amazing abs. I tried not to stare but he caught me anyways.

"What? Am I too sexy for you?" he teased.

I shook my head. "What do you want to talk to me about?" I ask quietly

His head drops before rising again to look me in the eye. "I don't know where we stand right now," he starts, "but I want a fresh start… or at least as fresh as we're ever going to get. Let's face it, May. You know, I know, we're more than rivals. We're probably more than just friends, but with everything else going on, it's just too complicated." He runs a hand through my hair. "And truth be told, if I didn't have Brianna, I would definitely ask you to be my girlfriend. You're amazing, May. It only took me nine years to really figure out how I feel about you."

"Same," I reply softly, I nestle my head on his well-muscled chest. "And if I didn't have Brendan, I would definitely say yes."

He smiled at me. I smiled back. Then he wraps his arms around me. We stand there for a while, my head on his chest, his arms around me. We smell great together. He runs his hand through my hair.

"I guess this is a new flower," I say quietly. He smirks and out of nowhere, produces a crimson rose and braids it into my hair.

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

So they're just staying friends… I guess that's better than awkwardly not talking at all. I bang my head on a pillow before I feel like I need to go barf again. My body aches for a Bloody Mary to ease the hangover. Damn. I need to get sober.

I call up room service. "Get me a Bloody Mary, some crackers, and get Gary up here," I rasp.

Within moments, the items I requested, along with Gary Oak, are up in my bedroom.

"Arceus, Chloe! You look like a mess!" Gary exclaims.

"I'm crazy hungover! Of course I look like a mess!" I roll my eyes. "Anyways, I hope you don't mind I used your security system to do some eavesdropping. Drew and May are going to stick with the just friends thing but they have admitted they like each other so my master plan is to —"

"Give it up already."

I stop and turn around to look at Gary. His head's in his hands. "Take a break from meddling in their love lives already."

"Why?" I whined.

"Because it's driving you insane. You're hungover, hardly sober, and they've got lives. Just let life do its thing!"

I stare at him in shock. I was just about to protest when I come across a loophole. Gary only wants me to stay out of Drew and May's love lives… he never said anything about everyone else…

"Fine," I comply.

Gary looks up and gives me a tense smile. "Take it easy will you Chlo?"

I nod.

Gary gets up and walks out the door, but not before confiscating my Bloody Mary. "Really?"

"You know me Gary," I say flirtatiously.

Gary rolls his eyes but says nothing.

"And you're a fool to think I'm going to stop playing Cupid now…"

* * *

**A/N: Wow this chapter was easy to write! I'm really feeling it! I'm back into this story. I might actually be extending it a bit longer than I planned, especially since I have little to no work done on all the side shippings. It just feels wrong to leave those little loose ends… **

**I have the rest of the story generally planned out but I need to work out the details and the plot is still subject to some slight changes.**

**There's one little detail I'd like some help figuring out. What city do you want this to all end in? I want it to be a city special to Drew and May because something big is going to happen there ;) So far, I'm thinking either Slateport City (where they first met), Lake Valor (kiss in the first chapter), Petalburg or La Rousse (hometowns), or Hearthrome. There's a poll up on my profile. Vote! **

**100 Reviews! :D Thank you all SO MUCH for the support you've given me. Special shoutout to FirePrincess251 for being the 100****th**** reviewer! Another shoutout to LoveLoverGirl for being the first one to review this chapter. **

**A little note to AsiansAreAwesome-AAA ~ Haha. I'm Asian :P Anyways, sorry you think May cries too much. I'll try to balance it out a bit more.**

**And with that I conclude another (very long) author's note and (medium-sihly short) chapter**

**~ Limmee**


	13. Glorified Author's Note

_Sorry for dissapointing you all with a glorified author's note... *braces self for angry mob*_

_First off, I'm on vacation right now (like actually going somewhere! Yay!) and I don't have much time to write... This glorified author's note is actually cutting into my facebook time :P Anyways, I left my laptop at home which is where I started my new story (more about that later) and the newest chapter of Forever and Always. I will be off vacation in about a week. Updates will take some time though because I only have a bit of each done._

_Secondly, I have a poll on my profile page concerning Forever and Always. It's going to play a HUGE part in the ending of Forever and Always so if you care about this story, check it out!_

_As for my new story, it's still Contestshipping ;) It's a love at first sight thing. Basically, Drew and Brianna are going to get married, and May's their wedding planner. Things get complicated when Drew falls in love with May though... cliche story twisted around a bit :P Should I add an OC in it? Or have you had enough of my OCs? Lemme know! (- Cheap shot at getting more reviews :P)_

_And that's all for this glorified author's note! Thanks for not killing me!_

_~ Limeee_


	14. Sparks Fly

**A/N: Finally! An update! Sorry if there are some errors. I'm rushing to get this up before the time limits on my computer kicks in! Enjoy! (BTW, check out my new story, Teenage Dream: Thirty-three Misadventures to Love, if you haven't already!)**

* * *

**::DREW::**

Somehow, a freak snowstorm clogged up all the roads and our sleepover at Gary's has been extended. Things seemed to be dragging along in their usual order. Chloe was tipsy all the time. Gary was flirting with Leaf. Ash and Misty were going on in their usual annoyed-love friendship, and Dawn was trying to get Paul to warm up to her. All the while, Solidad and Harley were actually being the normal, controlled ones…

"When is this snowstorm going to end?" Dawn complained. "I'm sick of being stuck with him!" she cried, jerking a finger in Paul's direction.

"It's no more fun for me than it is for you, Troublesome," Paul retorted coldly.

"I'm sure the storm will pass when it's time," Chloe mused calmly with a mischievous glint in her eye. Then she reached for her drink and went to take a swig out of it before Leaf snuck up behind her and swatted it out of her hand. The glass shattered into a million pieces over Gary's shining hardwood floors

"Enough!" she pouted. "That's your fifth drink today!"

"I'm fine!" Chloe protested as she stood up. She wobbled a bit but if you weren't concentrating, you'd never notice that tiny wobble. Leaf, however, was concentrating and did notice it.

Leaf shook her head and held Chloe's arm to steady her. "You need rest. Gary! Where's Chloe's room?"

Gary looked up from the TV. "Top floor, the room at the end of the left side of the hallway. And while you're at it, call the maid to clean that up," he said, pointing to the mess of a drink on the floor.

Leaf was just about to leave when all of a sudden, Chloe slipped and collapsed in Leaf's arms.

Gary walked over, smirking. "Weak, just like a girl. You need a strong man like me to help you with that," he flirted. He wrapped his arm around Leaf and grabbed Chloe's arm with his hand and pulled them both up. Then he led Leaf away from the common room and up the stairs.

"Where are they going?" May asked as she walked in the room, holding a tray of drinks and snacks. I was just about to tell her to watch out for Chloe's spilled drink when she stepped in it and slipped. The drinks and snacks went flying in the air and so did she. Ash saw it as his responsibility to save the food and immediately dove for the tray.

"May!" I called out as I jumped for her. I stretched out my arm, grabbing hers and pulling her up, sacrificing my own butt in the process.

A moment later, we were both on the floor, right next to each other, holding hands. "Thanks, Drew," she blushed.

I smiled back her before my natural instinct to make a snide remark overpowered me. "I should charge you for all the times I saved your sorry butt," I said with a cocky smile.

She rolled her eyes and leaned in. "Not a chance, Hayden," she replied with a smirk of her own.

Just then, Chloe stumbled the stairs and nearly crashed into May and me, reeling and desperate for a drink. "F**k!" she swore before finally taking in her surroundings. She looked down at us. "D*mn!" she swore again. "I'm interrupting something aren't I? Please continue like I never was here," she said before walking off to find a drink while mumbling, "D*mnit, Chloe, d*mnit," over and over.

May looked at me with confused eyes. "What was that about?" she asked innocently.

"She's Chloe," I concurred. "We'll never be able to figure her out."

She gave me a smile before getting up.

Just then, Chloe stumbled back into the room, a fresh drink in her hand. "Leaf and Gary are upstairs doing who knows what," she reported before walking off. A couple moments later, we heard a slight snicker coming from Chloe's direction.

"Arceus knows what she did with them," Misty muttered before going back to her book.

"Oh don't be so pessimistic Mist!" Ash said. "Hey! That kind of rhymed!"

"Not really," Paul grumbled.

"Would it kill you to be nice for once?" Dawn asked, clearly fed up with Paul's consistent grumbling.

Paul was silent, which caused Dawn to huff in exasperation and storm out.

Once she was gone, Misty stood up and walked right up to Paul. "She's right, you know. You should really at least try and be nice for once because whether you like it or not, she cares about you."

Paul got up silently and walked away, shoving Misty aside. She stumbled and nearly fell but Ash caught her.

"What the hell was that for?" Ash asked angrily as he helped Misty up. "You could've really hurt her!"

"I'm fine, Ash," Misty insisted.

"You could've been hurt," Ash said in a softer tone, turning to her.

Misty blushed a deep shade of red but Ash didn't seem to notice.

"A couple bruises never hurt anyone," Paul stated gruffly before finally walking away.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked Misty.

"I'm fine," she insisted again. "You really didn't have to do that," she said softly.

"I can't just stand around and watch my friends get shoved around," Ash said.

"Friend?" Misty asked slowly.

"Yeah, friend," Ash replied. "You're my best friend."

"Just friend?" Misty asked again.

"You're more than a friend," Ash said. Misty's eyes seemed to light up quietly. "You're my best friend!" Then the lights in her eyes were dimmed again.

"Oh."

"At least you're not rivals," I added. "Because it sucks being rivals with her," I add, lightly punching May's arm.

"What do you mean by that?" May asked. Her face was a light shade of red and her eyes were fumingly angry.

I smirked. "You're a terrible rival. I wouldn't even consider you my rival because you're just that bad," I reply with a smirk.

"You take that back!"

"You're adorable when you're mad."

May's face turned an angry Gyarados red before she stormed off.

And to be honest, I wasn't lying.

* * *

**::LEAF::**

"Let me out!" I yelled, desperately banging on the door. "Eff you Chloe!"

"My, my, language, Leaf!" Gary teasingly scolds from the corner. While I was desperately trying to get us out of this closet, Gary was just sitting back and enjoying watching me act like a crazy person.

"Eff you too, Gary!" I burst. I didn't want to be trapped a closet with anybody, much less him.

Gary gave me a smirk. "Don't threaten me with a good time," he teases.

"You have a dirty mind," I state.

"I think we all knew that, Leafy."

"Don't call me Leafy." He was pushing my buttons and he knew it.

"Alright… Leafy."

That was the final straw. "Gary Oak, I am going to pound you to dust!" I stormed over to him, my fist drawn but before I could make contact, Gary caught my fist and grabbed my other hand and pulled me in.

_The way you move is like a full on rainstorm_

_And I'm a house of cards_

_You're the kind of reckless that should send me running_

_But I kind of know that I won't get far_

"Why would you do that to me?" he asked, his breath tickling my face. Suddenly, I was all too aware of our proximity and I squirmed to free myself from his grip but he was too strong.

I stayed silent. D*mn he was cute.

_And you stood there in front of me_

_Just close enough to touch_

_Close enough to hope you couldn't_

_See what I was thinking of_

"I'm going to kiss you right now," he said softly. The rational part of me wanted to protest, but something in my heart told me not to. A split second later, his lips crashed down on mine and melded together perfectly. I couldn't help but completely melt in his arms. I felt like putty; it was a new feeling for me. I was used to being self-assured and independent, but Gary was something else. He made me feel different. Kissing him was a whole new sensation.

_Drop everything now_

_Meet me in the pouring rain_

_Kiss me on the sidewalk_

_Take away the pain_

'_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile_

_Get me with those green eyes, baby_

_As the lights go down_

_Give me something that'll haunt me_

_When you're not around_

'_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile_

At this point, I could care less he was a playboy. I could care less he's never dated any girl for longer than two weeks. I shoved all my worries aside, feeling completely vulnerable to his charms, but strangely enough, I liked it.

_My mind forgets to remind me_

_You're a bad idea_

_You touch me once and it's really something_

_You find I'm even better than you imagined I would be_

_I'm on my guard for the rest of the world_

_But with you, I know it's no good_

_And I could wait patiently_

_But I really wish you would_

_Drop everything now_

_Meet me in the pouring rain_

_Kiss me on the sidewalk_

_Take away the pain_

'_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile_

_Get me with those green eyes, baby_

_As the lights go down_

_Give me something that'll haunt me_

_When you're not around_

'_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile_

We gently eased out of the kiss and opened our eyes to the world. He looked at me with soft green eyes and I looked right back. I could feel the sparks in between us. Normally, by now, I would've made up some awkward excuse to scram but this time, my mind was devoid of excuses and filled with Gary, not that I had a choice to run away, being trapped in the closet.

"Why haven't we done this before?" I ask softly.

"You never let me," Gary replies, keeping his eyes on me. Then, without any further notice, he leans back in and starts kissing me again.

_I'll run my fingers through your hair_

_And watch the lights go wild_

_Just keep on keeping your eyes on me_

_It's just wrong enough to feel right_

_And lead me up the staircase_

_Won't you whisper soft and slow_

"_I'm captivated by you, baby_

_Like a fireworks show"_

_Drop everything now_

_Meet me in the pouring rain_

_Kiss me on the sidewalk_

_Take away the pain_

'_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile_

_Get me with those green eyes, baby_

_As the lights go down_

_Give me something that'll haunt me_

_When you're not around_

'_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile_

_And the sparks fly_

_Oh, baby, smile_

_And the sparks fly_

* * *

**::CHLOE::**

I knew she would crack eventually.

I sat outside of the closet, sipping my drink casually, meticulously keeping up on the weather updates and listening to Gary and Leaf suck face in the closet.

"They make such a cute couple," I muse as I open up the weather maps. I wrinkled my eyebrow when I saw the snowstorm centered around Cerulean City start to thin out.

"D*mnit," I swore.

I hoisted myself up and walked out to the balcony of my room. "Come on out, Glaceon."

Glaceon appeared from her Pokeball in the usual flash of white light. "Mind giving me another Blizzard?" I ask.

Glaceon nodded before turning her head up to the sky and releasing another powerful blizzard. Instantly, the sky turned back to an ominous gray and more fluffy white flakes fell to the ground.

"Good work, Glaceon," I say before returning her to her Pokeball.

I pick up my drink and start to walk back downstairs, stopping by the closet along the way. Gary and Leaf seemed to be having a good time. I decided to leave them be.

* * *

**A/N: Oldrivalshipping! How'd I do? There was a bit of everything in here but it was mainly Oldrival.**

**I used Taylor Swift's "Sparks Fly" in here (and yes, Gary's eyes are green. Go look it up on Bulbapedia.)**

**It's a bit different from my usual Contestshipping but Chloe promised not to meddle with Drew and May and a promise is a promise… :3 This chapter was actually quite easy to write. It came so naturally(:**

**I'm also working on the new chapter for Teenage Dream and a oneshot for Surfergirl14's contest. Check out Teenage Dream: Thirty-three Misadventures to Love if you haven't already.**

**Oh, by the way, I changed my penname again. It's now SilverSharpie3, my generic name for all things on the internet **

**So let me know what you think! And by that I mean, review please!**

**~Silver**


	15. Never Have I Ever

**::CHLOE::**

After walking back downstairs, only to find that Ash, Misty, and Drew were the only ones left in the family room, I rounded up everyone, sans Gary and Leaf, into Gary's oversized rec room.

I immediately slid up to the bar and began mixing some drinks while the others played games of various sorts. Ash and Misty were playing a game of foosball, and by the sounds of Ash's groans, Misty was clearly winning. Dawn was trying to talk to Paul while he looked at the various plaques and other displays on the wall. Then my gaze drifted over to May and Drew. At the moment, he was helping her line up her pool shot. He had his arms wrapped around hers with his fingers gently guiding hers towards the right positions. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Harley and Solidad watching them with amusement.

I finished up mixing my drinks and called everyone to the sitting area and handed each one a cup.

"What's in this?" Misty asked, delicately sniffing the contents.

"My own mix. It's nothing too strong," I replied casually.

"Why do we have it?" she asked.

I grinned devilishly. "We are playing Never Have I Ever."

The room fell silent for a moment before Dawn dared to break the silence. "That drinking game?"

"We're not doing anything important for the foreseeable future so why not get drunk?" I reasoned. Harley giggled in agreement. "I'm sure we all know how to play."

"I don't," May said from the corner where she was sitting with Drew. He had one arm draped over the edge of the couch, inches away from just lazily slipping down and grazing her shoulders.

"Of course you wouldn't," Drew remarked, throwing her a teasing smirk.

She opened her mouth to object but was out of ideas. He smirked again and flicked his hair.

"So what you do is we go around in a circle making 'Never have I ever' statements. If you did do this before, you take a sip of your drink, and it keeps going until someone is on the verge of puking," I explained. "An example would be if someone said 'Never have I ever won a Ribbon Cup,' and then I would take a sip. Got it?"

"I think so," May replied.

"I'll start," I said. After a moment of careful thought, I stated, "Never have I ever fallen in love with one of my traveling partners." Inwardly, I gave myself a high five. This one was like killing two birds with one stone! I know Misty and Ash traveled together and they are absolutely in love with each other. And I know May did some traveling with Drew in their past. It worked out perfectly.

The first person I saw hesitantly raise her glass was Misty. While she was sipping, her eyes darted over to Ash, who was dealing with the difficult and conflicting emotions and thoughts he had about Misty for the first time ever.

The second person to raise their glass was Drew. He, unlike Misty, refused to look at May while he drank.

May quickly followed suit. She drank quickly, making no eye contact whatsoever before quickly putting the drink down.

The room was still as everyone anxiously awaited Ash to move. He had his glass in one hand, raised off the ground by a couple inches, but he didn't bother bringing it any further. His chocolate eyes were focused in serious concentration on the glass. Then he looked up and asked, "What if we're not sure?"

I felt like face-palming someone. Was this kid really that dense? "Have you ever had a crush on one of your traveling partners? That can include anyone from Pikachu, since he's on your shoulder all the time, to Misty," I said blatantly

"Um… well… I guess," he stuttered as he raised the drink to his lips and took a sip. I saw Misty's lips lift up into a small, hopeful smile.

"Okay darlings," Harley giggled sadistically, "my turn!" He paused for a minute of deliberation before stating, "Never have I ever kissed my rival." Then he faced May and Drew and flirtatiously wiggled his eyebrows at them.

I couldn't help but smile at Harley's outright hints. I raised my glass to my lips, took a loud, long sip, before putting the glass down with an obnoxious _clink._ Everyone gave me questionable looks.

"What? I did kiss one of my rivals before," I shrugged. While I was explaining, Drew and May quickly sipped their drinks and quietly put them down.

"Alright! Solidad's turn!" I cheered happily before winking at them. They were slightly taken back but after a moment of hesitation, they smiled back at me.

The game kept going around in your typical, mundane "Never have I ever" statements until we reached Dawn.

"Never have I ever… been in a relationship that didn't scar me, physically or emotionally," Dawn admitted.

I saw Paul raise an eyebrow. This was interesting… I never would've suspected anyone like Paul to care about people. This was also the first 'Never have I ever' that he's shown any reaction to…

The room fell silent except for the clinking of glasses to the table by the majority of people. I was the only one other than Dawn and Paul who didn't take a sip. No one dared say anything. Up until now, all of the 'Never have I ever' statements were lighthearted and laughable.

"Alright," I said brightly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that fell over the room, "I think that's enough for now."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! It's less of a chapter and more of a filler-ish lead in for the next chapter… and you can decide which side-pairing you want the next chapter to be about! :D**

**This was kind of a fun chapter to write. It was a lot better in my head but it serves its purpose.**

**I'm not sure how many more updates I can get in before school starts. I can probably get one more in for this story, but I don't think I can get in another one for Teenage Dream (for those of you who follow that one) due to the longer chapters.**

**FYI, I'm going into high school and all my classes are advanced classes so my updating rate will probably be even slower than what it is now and the chapters will probably be shorter as well.**

**Story wise, you might see a couple of oneshots every now and then but I'm going try not to put out any new stories since I won't be able to update them often. I am also deleting Love Like Woe since I really don't know where I'm going with that one anymore.**

**Reviews would be appreciated(: In your review, I would like to know which shipping you want next (Ikari or Pokeshipping) and if Harley and Solidad should be just friends in this shipping or a little more ;) (Festivalshipping)**

**That's just about it for this super long author's note. Thanks for reading! Review! :)**

**Hugs & Kisses**

**~ Silver**


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